Producers Sue Actress for Refusing to Film Nude Sex Scene

by Eriq Gardner (the dude is gay and moronically oblivious to contractual obligations)

Legal papers filed by True Crime also claim that HBO and Cinemax have a policy against women wearing pasties in sex scenes.

From the department of "Only in Hollywood" comes the bizarre tale of an actress who is now facing legal claims for at least $85,000 in damages for objecting to doing lovemaking scenes in the nude.

Her name is Anne Greene. Two years ago, as "Anne G.," she filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Time Warner, HBO, Cinemax and a production company called True Crime LLC claiming that she was bullied into performing nude scenes, sexually harassed and placed in a dangerous work environment.

Now, two months before a scheduled trial, True Crime has filed an almost unbelievable cross-complaint alleging Greene breached the "Nudity Rider" she signed. It was filed late last month by Reed Smith partner Harrison Dossick, whose previous clients include Angelina Jolie, Sony Pictures and The Weinstein Co.

So how, 94 years after women were given the right to vote, does a woman become allegedly contractually obligated to disrobe and simulate sex with a man?

According to True Crime, the story begins with its production of a show entitled Femme Fatales for Cinemax, which is owned by Time Warner's HBO division. The pilot premiered on May 13, 2011, and according to the production company, was "well received by critics and Cinemax subscribers." The following month, the series was picked up by HBO for a second season.

In May of that year, Greene, whose credits include Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, is said to have engaged a talent agency to procure acting roles in films and TV shows.

The next month, she auditioned for lead roles in two second-season episodes, entitled "Libra" and "Irresistible Urges." True Crime says that prior to the auditions, she received a link to the show's "sizzle reel" -- a preview video used to promote the show, which unmistakably revealed that Femme Fatales was an erotic, adult-targeted anthology whose principal castmembers appeared partially nude and engaged in acts of simulated sex. Further, Greene and her agent are said to have gotten casting breakdowns for roles that would "require partial nudity," defined as "chest" and "behind."

Greene allegedly expressed no reservations. In her own lawsuit, she said she never would have agreed to the job if she knew it involved "soft-core porn."

The actress didn't get those initial roles, but in November 2011, she auditioned for the lead role in an episode entitled "Jailbreak." The cross-complaint says that by this time, 13 episodes of the show had already aired. Greene accepted an offer to play the part of Kendra. She signed an employment agreement along with a personal release and nudity rider. True Crime says that to prepare Greene for her role, it sent her a DVD copy of a prequel episode to "Jailbreak" that had aired early in the first season.

Production commenced the following month. Greene was given several versions of the script, which, according to the producer, contained a sex scene that included a reference to her character receiving oral sex.

But on the final business day prior to the start of production, True Crime says it was advised by Greene that she was not comfortable with the oral sex aspect of the scene. The producer says it "accommodated Greene's concern and revised the script" and didn't "attempt to convince, persuade or coerce Greene to perform any scenes against her will or to which she expressed objection or discomfort."

The first day of shooting went fine. But on the second day, trouble arose over a scene wherein Greene was to simulate nude sex with a male actor. According to the cross-complaint, the actress "arrived on set, reported to wardrobe on time, but then abruptly refused to report to the set, expressing for the first time, contrary to the express terms of the Employment Agreement and Nudity Rider, that she was not comfortable performing the scene topless or allowing herself to be filmed topless."

True Crime says that had she expressed concerns earlier, it would have replaced her with another actress, but that given the tight filming schedule and limited budget, it wasn't "possible nor economically feasible."

And so, the situation gets even more strange.

A True Crime rep spoke to her at length in private and asked whether anything could be done to resolve her concerns. Greene allegedly explained that she would have no problem with the scene if she didn't have to expose her nipples. And so they spoke to wardrobe to see if the actress could be fitted with coverings known as "pasties" to obscure her nipples.

"The True Crime representative knew the 'Pasties' would show on film and therefore require True Crime to hire a body double and spend substantial time editing (both at significant unbudgeted expense) just to get the frontal partially nude shots called for in the scene, and would not be compliant with HBO's policy prohibiting the use of 'Pasties' in sex scenes," say the legal papers.

"Nevertheless, the True Crime representative agreed to accommodate Greene's wishes in order to mitigate and minimize True Crime's losses."

After the conversation, Greene -- pasties in place -- is said to have reported to the set and performed her simulated sex scene "willingly" with no further complaint.

A third day of production happened, too. But True Crime blames her for "substantial delay and disruption" that caused the company to call back several actors -- including Greene's body double -- for an additional fourth day on a "new, more expensive location" and required paying for rewrites and so forth.

The cross-complaint then alleges that Greene later fired her agent and filed her lawsuit, which "rests on a series of fabrications."

The production company obviously believes it did right by Greene by telling her what was coming and not trying to coerce her, but now after making its supposed accommodations to her, it's backtracking and attempting to hold the actress liable for breaching the express terms of the nudity rider "by, among other things, refusing (a) 'to appear and perform in nude scenes and/or simulated lovemaking scenes' ... 'as may be determined by the Producer' and (b) to 'appear and perform nude in the Program as required by Producer.' "

What's more, Greene is said to have "breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied therein by waiting until the moment her simulated sex scene was to be shot to first express concerns over performing topless."

We've reached out to Greene's attorney for comment and will update if we hear anything. We've also reached out to HBO about whether there's any truth to the claim of a no-pasties policy. We haven't heard any response yet.

Roger
This is what I was expecting. The case been going on for a while now. The counter-suit isn't surprising. I did say the producers just have to show the court the original casting notice and nudity requirement for the role (the casting director will almost certainly vouch for them) to put the suit in their favor. 
More info HERE and HERE and HERE [scroll down]