Showtime is brushing off a lawsuit from an employee who worked as Ruth Wilson's body double for The Affair. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Showtime used the film Dunkirk (2017) as an analogy to explain away to lawsuit.
Ashlynn Alexander, who filed the lawsuit, alleged that she was wrongfully fired after she complained about being objectified on set. She was listed on the call sheet as "Alison sexytime double." She complained about this. Production fired her days later.
As per THR, Showtime is attempting to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the call sheet is meant to be "descriptive" such that the hair and makeup team knows how to prep the incoming actors.
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Reads the court briefing from the defendant, "To the extent the Call Sheet refers to 'Alison sexy time' at all, that reference appears in the 'Instructions' portion of the Call Sheet, which contains detailed instructions on props, sound, set dress, location, hair, and makeup, the purpose of which is to ensure that the set and actors are made up appropriately for the scene about to be filmed."
The defendants then pull in a Dunkirk reference. "It would make no sense, for instance, for an actor portraying a dying soldier on the beaches of Dunkirk to be dressed up for a fashion show, freshly showered, clean shaven and coiffed."
The briefing adds that Alexander was specifically hired for "simulated sexual intercourse," and can therefore "scarcely complain" about the instructions portion of the call sheet.
THR reported in July that Alexander is suing for retaliation. "Ms. Alexander was humiliated," her attorney wrote in the original complaint. "She takes her career seriously and knew that everyone working on The Affair read the call sheet and would see her reduced to a sexual object."
When she broached the topic with her supervisor Travis Rehwaldt, Rehwaldt told her she was replaceable. Alexander was fired a week later. Production claimed they wanted a better hair match for Wilson, who plays Allison. Alexander countered that she wore a wig during her scenes, so her natural hair wouldn't have been an issue.
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