‘Megalopolis’ team claims Coppola kissed semi-naked extras, while producer defends: ‘No complaints’

Members of the filming crew Megalopolis revealed that the behavior of Francis Ford Coppola behind the scenes may have been inappropriate towards some women. According to anonymous reports made to the The Guardian (via Variety), Coppola “he allegedly pulled women to sit on his lap, for example.”

“And during a bacchanalian nightclub scene being filmed for the feature, witnesses say that Coppola entered the set and tried to kiss some of the half-naked extras. Apparently he claimed he was ‘trying to get them in the mood.'”

Darren Demetrethe film’s executive producer, came to the director’s defense, stating that Coppola actually kissed some extras on the cheek in a friendly way and no one expressed discomfort about the attitude.

“I know and work with Francis and his family for over 35 years. As one of the first assistant directors and executive producers on his new epic, MegalopolisI helped supervise and advise production and ran the second unit. Francis successfully produced and directed a huge independent film, making all the difficult decisions to ensure it was delivered on time and on budget, whilst remaining true to his creative vision,” said Demetre.

“There were two days where we filmed a festive club scene, similar to Studio 54, where Francis walked around the set to establish the spirit of the scene, giving gentle hugs and kisses on the cheek to cast members and extras,” he added. “It was his way of helping to inspire and establish the club atmosphere that was so important to the film. I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or inappropriate behavior during the course of the project.”

Mike Figgisclose friend of Coppola and responsible for documenting the behind-the-scenes Megalopolis in Atlanta, he also said: “Watching an 84-year-old guy keep that huge team together, and have enough intelligence to direct the actors, the camera and everything…”

“He was every morning taking notes on the way to set, or discussing his ideas with Roman, his son. And in the end, he’s also the producer, so he’s thinking about his interest rate.”

Figgis further noted that Coppola came to have certain conflicts with Shia LaBeouf, who is part of the cast. “Shia and he had this wonderful combative relationship, which was very productive,” he said. “Shia I had a lot of questions, and sometimes Francis I was stressed about a lot of other things and he responded in a certain way. There was also a lot of humor involved, so it was a lot of fun… But sometimes, [Francis] I just thought, ‘Oh, I can’t deal with this.'”