Vincent Gallo and James Franco’s Film Was a Nightmare for These Women

When Emily* showed up to her callback audition for a new film titled The Policeman starring Vincent Gallo, she knew it would be intense. In The Policeman, Gallo, who has a reputation for acting in controversial and edgy projects, plays serial killer and rapist Joseph James DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer. The actress was auditioning to play one of his female victims who is raped and killed, and she was aware of the nudity and violence involved, as well as the dark nature of the film itself.

But during the audition, the Portland-based actress didn’t expect Gallo to make sexual and explicit comments that were so shocking and upsetting to her that she felt compelled to submit a formal complaint to the Screen Actors Guild. In the complaint obtained by Rolling Stone, the actress wrote that Gallo said to her, “If I say to suck my dick or I will kill you, I want you, you the person, not you the character, not you the actor, but you, to truly believe you will die if you don’t do as I say. And just like you would in real life, if this were happening to you, I want you to do all of the actions necessary to do that. You won’t actually suck my dick, but you do not have the power, I have all the power. You have no control, I am in complete control.”

Emily wasn’t the only one who said she felt uncomfortable because of Gallo’s remarks. Jane*, another actress who auditioned to play one of the serial killer’s victims in The Policeman, written and directed by Jordan Gertner and co-starring James Franco, also told Rolling Stone they issued a complaint to SAG because of sexual and explicit comments made by Gallo. And a third actress, Leslie*, said she did not attend her callback audition after she heard about Gallo’s alleged statements to other women during their callbacks.

Not only do the two women say Gallo’s comments during their November auditions prompted them to not accept roles in The Policeman, but after reporting the incidents, SAG has launched an investigation into the casting process. The three women, all young actresses in their 30s, asked to not be named out of fear of retribution and retaliation in the entertainment industry. In this story, pseudonyms are replacing their real names in order to protect their identities. (Gallo did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

A spokesperson for SAG confirmed the investigation to Rolling Stone in a statement, saying, “We are aware of these complaints and are investigating. We extensively engaged with production regarding the complaints and while shooting has wrapped, we continue to monitor and investigate. We also reaffirm our commitment to ensuring a safe and respectful environment on set. Because our inquiry is ongoing, we cannot respond to specifics of the complaint.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson on behalf of Gertner and Pacific Media Productions told Rolling Stone in a statement, “We do take allegations of inappropriate comments made by anyone involved in the production very seriously. A SAG-AFTRA intimacy coordinator was hired for the production and the production of the picture was carried out in a safe, protective, and respectful environment. The producers, director, cast, and crew are proud of the movie we have made.”

According to the spokesperson, “The casting director told the actors prior to their callback meetings and auditions that a SAG-AFTRA intimacy coordinator was being hired for the picture and she would be involved with all scenes in which any nudity or sexuality was to occur. The coordinator that was hired worked closely with the director, Vincent, and other cast, and the cast involved felt that the environment was positive and respectful.”

An email from Leslie’s agent, reviewed by Rolling Stone, showed the casting director at Cast Iron Studios telling the agent that The Policeman was written and directed by Gertner, stars Gallo as the serial killer, and co-stars James Franco as a character named Babcock. The film is set in the 1970s when the Golden State Killer was murdering and raping women across California and the filmmakers were “envisioning a… gritty tone” akin to films and TV series about the Zodiac Killer and Jeffrey Dahmer. The email also said shooting in the Portland area was scheduled to begin on December 15 and wrap around December 19. 

In one complaint filed to SAG obtained by Rolling Stone, Jane said she attended a callback to play a female victim who was violently raped and psychologically tortured by DeAngelo’s character. Jane said she was told the role required full nudity, which she was willing to do. But when she walked into the audition and met Gallo, he talked about what she called his “torture porn fantasies” with the actress and told her the script, “would bear very little resemblance to what was going to be filmed,” according to the complaint.

“He then proceeded to tell me that the filming environment he wanted to create was one that was fully improvised,” Jane wrote in her complaint. “In order to truly tell the story in an ‘accurate way,’ he needed actresses who were willing to have their ‘minds and bodies be 100 percent dominated by him’ from the moment they arrived on set.”

The actress went on to say that Gallo insisted if she were cast, she would need to “be at the whim of whatever his character decides to do to me at any moment.” Jane said he then listed a number of possible improvised scenarios without mentioning an intimacy coordinator, including: pushing her, pulling her hair, tying her up and leaving her in a corner and hog-tying her with shoelaces, as well as simulating rape, murder, or physical assault without prior coordination.

“I may ask you to get nude at any time, and I need an actress who is going to do it, because that’s what the victim would’ve done to stay alive,” Gallo told Jane, according to the complaint. 

In her complaint, Jane also said that Gallo told her, “I may ask you to suck my cock on screen, and I want an actress who is not going to put up a fight about that. You’re going to be offended by what I ask you, but I don’t want any of your personal feminist values. You don’t want to do this, you don’t think it’s fair, but you know what? The victim didn’t have a choice, and neither will you as the actress… Of course we can’t ACTUALLY have you give me head on screen, but the point is that I want someone who will not stop production to call their agent, or complain, etc. because they are offended.”

Gallo allegedly told Jane he would not physically injure her and there would not be any “actual penetration, swapping of fluids or fellatio” during filming, according to the complaint. Then she said Gallo explained DeAngelo was “turned on by his victim’s fear” in real life so while they were making the movie, “he would be constantly creating an environment of terror and vulnerability to inspire his character’s actions on and off set.” 

The complaint says Gallo informed the actress that once she agreed to the role, she would have “zero negotiations about what was being done to me on set” and “had to give blanket consent,” otherwise she would be fired. Jane said she wasn’t comfortable moving forward with The Policeman because of her experience auditioning with Gallo.

Since the #MeToo movement in Hollywood picked up steam in 2017, intimacy coordinators have been increasingly utilized on the sets of film and television productions in order to ensure the safety of performers required to be nude and/or simulate sex scenes. Their role is to serve as an advocate between actors and other members of production, helping choreograph simulated sex scenes ahead of time based on what’s written in the script. Intimacy coordinators are also helpful liaisons for actors who might feel uncomfortable in situations where they could potentially be pressured into more nudity or a different sex simulation while filming than what they originally agreed to.

If I ask you to tell me about the first time you sucked a cock, I want you to tell me an actual story from your actual life. I may also notice something about your body and comment on it, and it could be positive or negative, and it won’t be personal, but it will be something real, so that it feels personal.

Caitlin Dulany, a SAG L.A. board member who is also on the sexual harassment prevention committee, tells Rolling Stone it’s important for intimacy coordinators to be on film sets when actors simulate sex and especially rape scenes because sometimes “it’s hard for performers to speak up and speak out in the moment.” 

“Some people find it easier than others but it’s still a difficult thing to do, and when someone’s asked to do something in the moment that they’re not comfortable with and they say no, they are going to absolutely worry about retaliation, imagined or otherwise,” Dulany, who also played a role in pushing forward the inclusion of protections around intimacy coordinators in the new SAG contract, says.

“When someone’s doing an intimate scene and there isn’t an intimacy coordinator there to help navigate the choreography and what people are comfortable with, both before the shoot day and on the shoot day… there is the potential for the actor to be left having done something that traumatizes them, either a little or a lot, or potentially creates anxiety around performing in the future, in an audition or in a scene, which is not healthy and can really interfere with their career.”

Because of the implementation of intimacy coordinators and heightened awareness around sexual harassment on Hollywood sets, the actresses who issued complaints to SAG about The Policeman were especially surprised by the comments they say Gallo made toward them. 

Gallo, 62, a Hollywood veteran who’s grown a cult following, has a well-documented history of making controversial movies. Gallo’s The Brown Bunny, which he wrote, directed, and starred in alongside Chloë Sevigny, was met with criticism following its 2003 debut at the Cannes Film Festival because of an unsimulated sex scene between Gallo and Sevigny wherein Sevigny performed oral sex on Gallo. Many viewers and critics speculated whether Sevigny was pressured into the situation by Gallo. 

In an interview with the Associated Press at the time the movie premiered, Gallo said about filming the sex scene with Sevigny, “I describe in detail what I would require from her, which would mean that she would have to, I asked her, I knew she had a boyfriend and she was very close with her boyfriend at the time, and I asked her if she would be willing to not call him, not call her agent, not tell anybody she was doing the movie, to really detach from her life and find a way to be on my side in more ways than she’s ever been in other films.”

Years later, in 2010, Sevigny told Playboy about filming the scene, “What’s happened with that is all very complicated. There are a lot of emotions. I’ll probably have to go to therapy at some point. But I love Vincent. The film is tragic and beautiful, and I’m proud of it and my performance.”

In another complaint to SAG reviewed by Rolling Stone, Emily said they were also uncomfortable with comments Gallo made to them during their callback for the role of one of DeAngelo’s victims in The Policeman. According to the complaint, the casting director from Cast Iron Studios instructed the actress not to ask about an intimacy coordinator when she was waiting to be called in. Emily said when she entered the room, Gallo told her he was looking to cast “an actor with absolutely no boundaries as he, while playing DeAngelo, could decide at any moment during the shoot to improvise lines and sexual acts.” The complaint also says that Gallo told the actress he planned to improvise his actions for the sake of authenticity.

In the complaint, Emily wrote that Gallo said to her, “You won’t ever be in any real danger, you will be physically safe, nothing sexual will actually happen. But I will be the one to make sure everything is simulated, and that it looks real, and I will also make sure that it feels real for you. I may even ask you to tell a story. If I ask you to tell me about the first time you sucked a cock, I want you to tell me an actual story from your actual life. I may also notice something about your body and comment on it, and it could be positive or negative, and it won’t be personal, but it will be something real, so that it feels personal.”

Emily wrote in her complaint that Gallo said he wanted to cast talent who were willing to “feel very vulnerable and exposed and uncomfortable.”

“We don’t want to see any acting. If DeAngelo says don’t scream or I’ll kill you, you do not scream, because if you do, you die. DeAngelo hates screaming. He hates fighters,” Gallo said, according to the complaint from Emily. “We don’t want to see you act, we don’t want to see you pretend. DeAngelo hates acting. DeAngelo hates actors. DeAngelo hates liars.”

Emily also told Rolling Stone she was informed by Gallo that if she agreed to those conditions without any boundaries, she would be offered the role.

In the complaint, the actress wrote that she gave her agent a list of boundaries that would make her feel comfortable in order to accept the offer to participate in the film, which included “two or three very specific sexual acts, none of which were described in the portions of the script I had seen.” Then, after multiple phone calls with her agent, she said “it was implied to me that [production told my agent] the reason I did not receive a formal offer for this role was my list of boundaries.” The agent also spoke to Rolling Stone and confirmed Emily’s account.

“One possibility is all of this is a ruse… they really do want me afraid on set so they’re convincing me not to put any boundaries on paper so that I believe that anything could happen to me in that room, but they’re still going to go on script and everything’s gonna be fine,” Emily told Rolling Stone. “Or [another] possibility is someone is trying to get himself a free ticket to do whatever he wants to some young, inexperienced or who appears to be inexperienced actor and just have complete carte blanche to sexually abuse them or god knows what.”

Or [another] possibility is someone is trying to get himself a free ticket to do whatever he wants to some young, inexperienced or who appears to be inexperienced actor and just have complete carte blanche to sexually abuse them or god knows what.

A spokesperson for Pacific Media Productions shared reports The Policeman’s intimacy coordinator emailed to SAG during filming detailing the days she was on set to assist with scenes involving nudity and sex simulation. In the emails, the intimacy coordinator wrote that “all scenes were executed within the boundaries of each actor’s consent.”

According to both women who filed complaints with SAG, The Policeman director Gertner and a casting director were also present during their callbacks but no one interjected during Gallo’s comments or remarks.

A representative for Cast Iron Studios told Rolling Stone in a statement, “The casting team fought hard behind the scenes for the performers, and the results of these efforts can be attested to by the positive reports from set. We thank the actresses for their courage to come forward, and express our deepest apologies for their experience, which was indeed a first for us, too.”

A source close to the casting process also confirmed to Rolling Stone that as a result of the complaints, “changes were subsequently made” and an additional SAG representative was also present on set during filming.

“It felt like everyone was under Vincent’s spell,” Jane told Rolling Stone. 

“I’ve walked into a callback where the director is present and is not saying a word so I’m already wondering, you know, how much direction is the director contributing? It feels like Vincent’s running the show,” Emily added. “If I asked for an intimacy coordinator, is he going to do that? And who was the intimate intimacy coordinator going to be? Can I trust that it’s going to be somebody that will actually look out for me and make sure to keep him to my boundaries?”

The Policeman is one of the first film projects Franco has been involved in since 2018. when five women accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior in a Los Angeles Times report, four of them being his former acting students. In June 2021, Franco settled a $2.2 million lawsuit with his former students who alleged he sexually coerced them. Later that year, Franco addressed the sexual misconduct allegations for the first time on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle” podcast.

“Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students and that was wrong,” Franco said. “It’s not why I started the school, and I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class, so it wasn’t a master plan on my part.”

The two women who submitted complaints to SAG told Rolling Stone they wanted to come forward about their experiences with Gallo because they were concerned for other women who worked with him in the future. The actresses said the comments Gallo allegedly made to them were troubling and upsetting for any actress to hear in a professional environment, not to mention that no one else in the room came to their defense, and they don’t want other women to have to endure anything similar. 

“I never felt truly protected from all of this, from what frankly was looking to me like a recipe for sexual misconduct on set,” Emily told Rolling Stone. “I was like, ‘This is the storm that is brewing right now and I don’t feel like I am being protected from it.’”