Kriti Sanon Quotes

I can honestly, and proudly, say that I never was on the casting couch. Oh, of course there have been advances from certain men in the movie industry, but nothing overwhelming.

I wasn't naive, but at the end of my Miss America year, when two different executives attacked me during what I thought were informational interviews about jobs, I was shocked. I didn't see it coming, and the worst thing about it was the shame I felt, as if I'd done something wrong.

For me, talking about the casting couch in the Malayalam film industry was like calling the sky blue. There is nothing new about calling a spade a spade. My intention was not to create an effect; I just wanted to pluck a few weeds in the system and throw them out.

I don't know how much of the 'casting couch' exists in the industry, as I've not seen it myself. I'm glad that I've not had to.

There is casting couch in the Malayalam industry.

I can't even begin to tell you how many casting couches I was attacked on. Not just by casting people, but by stars.

I worked on the Harvey Weinstein-produced 'The Great Raid,' where I warned a young co-star not to take Harvey up on his invitations to drinks unless the whole group was there.

I haven't faced a casting couch in the South or Bollywood. But yes, I have faced my share of harassment in both industries. I don't have the guts to name them because they are powerful people - men and women who made sure I felt helpless.

When I have actors flirting with me in acting, in my head, I am thinking, 'If I flirt back, I could definitely land a film with this guy. If I consider going to his house for drinks, considering he has invited me, I could definitely get a film with him.' But I just don't want to do that.

I have had experiences where the director has asked me to meet for a drink or to come party with him or just to 'hang out.' I have lost some roles because I refused to go to Madh Island to hang out.

We get these overzealous young men and their girlfriends. It's happened occasionally where one of them will lean up against the front of the stage and the guy is behind her, and it starts off as just dancing and then it gets into something more.

Obviously, I did a couple of things right on the old casting couch.

I've stood up to producers before, and even a director. I saw them being abusive. A lot of people on the set are scared to say stuff when they're not being treated right.

Because I sleep with him he asked me to audition, you know?

The only sexual act that is sinful is the one that uses or abuses.

I would like to say that what Mel Phillips was doing was not sexual harassment but more sexual abuse of children, because he was doing it in a sexual manner now that I look back on it.

Sexual harassment doesn't discriminate. You can wear a skirt, hospital scrubs, army fatigues. You can be young or old, married or single, black or white. You can be a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent. I heard from so many women: police officers, members of our military, financial assistants, actors, engineers, lawyers, bankers, accountants, teachers ... journalists. Sexual harassment, it turns out, is not about sex. It's about power, and about what somebody does to you to try and take away your power. And I'm here today to encourage you to know that you can take that power back.

Men are even afraid to say, 'You look nice,' or, 'You look pretty,' when you come out of hair and makeup to walk on set. And before, men would constantly - producers would constantly say things, but that's kind of a way that they would butter the actresses up and make them feel secure.

It's very hard to not give in, to sell your soul: to flatter a more experienced male person of power, a producer or director, in order to get what you want. You feel a pressure to flutter your eyelashes and flirt because you know that will work, and I think it's admirable to not do that.

The women at all levels of the entertainment industry - from interns to Oscar winners - who kept quiet to protect their careers should be a lesson to every CEO and HR department.

Fortunately, I have never been a victim of sexual harassment. But there have been instances where I have lost out on work or people have shown disinterest in working with me because I was unwilling to succumb to this unspoken understanding of patriarchy.

Like Hollywood, Washington, and New York City, Silicon Valley is in a moral crisis after a litany of revelations about predatory behavior by powerful men.

As a woman, absolutely, I have had to deal with people making advances at me, but not just people from the business of film industry but people across different professions and different strata. I think it has a lot to do with power; it is not only limited to the film business.

People on the lower rungs are more vulnerable to sexual harassment than those at the top.

Casting couch is not just a man's fault. It is important to say this because we blame the other side always.