'Men go through this as well': Matthew Lawrence reveals he lost 'Marvel' role after refusing to 'undress' for 'Oscar-winning director'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hollywood is no stranger to controversies or revelations from actors about the perils of their job. Now and then a story breaks out that shakes the movie industry to its core. No scandal is too small or big and there is always enough for the media to juice it up. Be it about the Hollywood executive, Harvey Weinstein, or Charlie Chaplin's infamous paternity test, the movie industry is laden with such controversial topics.
Recently, Matthew Lawrence who played the son of Robin Williams’ character in ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ and the long-lost Jack Hunter in the ABC sitcom ‘Boy Meets World', came forward with an account on his podcast ‘Brotherly Love’ about the alleged harassment he faced at the hands of an Oscar-winning director. Lawrence, who has been a part of the industry for over three decades, revealed that the agency representing him, fired the actor just after he refused to do what was asked by this sleazy director. Lawrence was promised a better life and a better role if he went ahead with the director’s demands. But what was the demand that shook Lawrence?
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What happened with Matthew Lawrence?
The 43-year-old actor recalled the time when he was asked to meet a renowned director at a hotel room to discuss a future project. Lawrence said, the 'prominent' director "showed up in his robe, asked me to undress, said he needed to take Polaroids of me and said if I did X, Y, and Z, I would be the next Marvel character." When he refused, the director was reportedly furious. Lawrence left the hotel room but stated that the agency that was representing him fired him after this altercation with the said director.
“I lost my agency because I went to the hotel room — which I can't believe they sent me to – of a very prominent Oscar Award-winning director,” said Matthew during an episode of his podcast ‘Brotherly Love'.
Lawrence sympathized with his peers
Lawrence mentioned that many of his other friends have gone through the same ordeal in the past. The harassment is rampant and in no mood of slowing down."A lot of my other male friends have gone through this with both men and women in this industry, but there's a double standard.” He stated that the #MeTooMovement was a 'very good thing’ that could have happened for the industry, but stated that men do not receive the same support as women when they call out sexual harassment.
"Not a lot of guys, in my opinion, have come out and talked about this in the industry. Now granted, it's probably about a third of what women go through … Men go through this as well,” Lawrence said in his podcast.