“Stranger Things” actress Grace Van Dien revealed she’s solely focusing on live streaming after being sexually harassed by an unnamed movie producer.
While doing a Q&A session on her Twitch livestream, the 26-year-old actress explained to fans why she turned down four movie projects over the last few weeks. Van Dien said she understands some people are upset with her for doing so, but explained that it was better for her mental health to stay away from movie sets.
“One of the last movies I did, one of the producers asked me to… like, he hired a girl that he was sleeping with and then he had her ask me to have a threesome with them,” Van Dien said. “So like, that’s my boss. I didn’t [do it] and I cried, and I was so upset.”
Van Dien added, “But it’s like, when people are like, ‘How is streaming better for your mental health?’ That’s how. I get to stay inside my home and play video games and I don’t have my boss asking me to have sex with him. That’s how this is better for my mental health.”
Van Dien told her fans she went resolved the situation “the right way” by contacting her management. She said a castmate offered to take a walk with her, and the two were miserable and cried a lot on set.
“That’s why I’m going to stick to streaming for a little bit, and I hope that’s not a huge wrench in your plans for me, but I’m happy here,” Van Dien said. “And I’m developing my own projects, and I’m hoping that someone decides to fund them because then I can be in control of my own set, and I’m not going to ask my actors to sleep with me, so that’s cool, right?”
On Thursday, Van Dien wrote on Twitter, “As I get older, my work priorities are changing. I’m waiting for the right project/the right people to work with.”