Actresses Annabella Sciorra and Daryl Hannah opened up to The New Yorker about their own Harvey Weinstein stories, describing the terror that they say the abuse left them with.
Sciorra, known for her role as Gloria Trillo in “The Sopranos,” accused the Hollywood mogul of raping her and then harassing her years after the attack. Hannah, who said her experiences with Weinstein began even before collaborating with him on “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” claimed the producer tried numerous times to force his way into her hotel rooms over the years.
Weinstein, who was fired from his own Weinstein Co. over the scandal, has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women, including Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne and Asia Argento.
Both Sciorra and Hannah said they were scared to tell their stories for years, fearing retribution and further trauma.
“Even now, as I tell you, and have had all these women around saying it’s okay, I’m petrified again,” Sciorra told The New Yorker.
After she filmed “The Night We Never Met” with Weinstein’s production company Miramax, she said, the producer forced his way into her apartment. Sciorra says Weinstein pinned her to her bed and raped her.
Sciorra told The New Yorker that the incident left her traumatized and ashamed, but she didn’t tell anyone about the attack out of fear. Even so, she says she believes that fighting Weinstein as he raped her hurt her career.
“From 1992, I didn’t work again until 1995,” Sciorra told The New Yorker. “I just kept getting this pushback of ‘we heard you were difficult, we heard this or that.’ I think that that was the Harvey machine.”
Hannah detailed several incidents in which Weinstein tried to enter her hotel room, once causing her to escape through another door and hide with her makeup artist. The “Kill Bill” actress said that after she openly rejected Weinstein, her flights and hotel rooms for the film sequel’s premiere at Cannes were canceled.
But Hannah did tell people, including director Quentin Tarantino, to no avail.
“And it didn’t matter,” Hannah told The New Yorker. “I think that it doesn’t matter if you’re a well-known actress, it doesn’t matter if you’re twenty or if you’re forty, it doesn’t matter if you report or if you don’t, because we are not believed. We are more than not believed—we are berated and criticized and blamed.”
Stories of Weinstein’s predatory behavior dates back over three decades, but women often stayed silent because of the producer’s power within the industry and because of societal shaming of assault victims. Many of his accusers have blamed Weinstein’s friends and employees for enabling his behavior for so long.
Read Sciorra’s and Hannah’s accounts in the full New Yorker article here.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.