Yahoo News Cary Joji Fukunaga accused of firing actress for nude scene refusal
True Detective director and executive producer Cary Joji Fukunaga has been accused of firing actress Raeden Greer when she refused to perform a nude scene on the show.
Greer, who has appeared in American Horror Story: Coven, has gone public with accusations to Daily Beast that she was hired to play an exotic dancer in season 1 of True Detective, but faced pressure to strip topless for a scene from Fukunaga — who has since directed James Bond film No Time to Die.
Digital Spy has reached out to both representatives for Cary Joji Fukunaga and HBO, but neither has released a response as of yet.
The actress claimed that, when her agent negotiated her fee to appear in True Detective, casting never offered her a nudity rider, which is standard practice for any job where talent would be expected to appear nude.
Greer alleged she was assured by her agent and the True Detective casting department multiple times that she would not be asked to go topless in her scenes with actor Woody Harrelson.
"I kept getting the answer from my agent and from casting — no, that would be absolutely unheard of if they asked you to do nudity after it wasn’t disclosed," she explained.
"'There was no rider, there was no negotiating this into your contract, that would not happen, so stop asking about it because it’s making you look amateurish.' So, I was like, 'OK, I'm gonna quit worrying about it'."
However, Greer says she became alarmed when arriving on set to find her wardrobe would be a nude thong and pasties.
The actress told Daily Beast that she objected, and when Fukunaga and another producer came to speak to her, they allegedly put pressure on her to go ahead with a nude scene.
Greer insists she stood her ground and was later fired from the role, in favour of Fukunaga giving her character to a background artist on set instead.
"It was degrading. It was humiliating and made me feel terrible," she said. "As soon as I got in my car, I started crying and I called my agent and I told her what happened and she couldn’t believe it.”
The actress has said that she decided to come forth with her story now after seeing Fukunaga give multiple interviews about how he wanted to bring James Bond into the #MeToo era with No Time to Die.
Fukunaga told The Hollywood Reporter that his efforts included bringing in Phoebe Waller-Bridge as a co-writer for No Time to Die and assigning Lashana Lynch's Nomi the 007 designation in Bond's absence early in the film.
"From my very first conversations with [producer Barbara Broccoli], that was a very strong drive," he said. "You can't change Bond overnight into a different person. But you can definitely change the world around him and the way he has to function in that world.
"It's a story about a white man as a spy in this world, but you have to be willing to lean in and do the work to make the female characters more than just contrivances."
As mentioned, Fukunaga has not responded to these allegations from Raeden Greer.
If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov.
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