Kerry Washington has spoken out about her time filming Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained in her new memoir.
The actor, who starred alongside Jamie Foxx in the 2012 movie which focused on slavery in the American South, claims in excerpts from her book Thicker Than Water via The Daily Beast that the original script included a scene where she “escaped abuse running naked down the street” and a “terrifyingly brutal rape scene” which she had reservations about being part of.
In the end neither scene was filmed and Washington says she still doesn’t know exactly why the latter in particular never went ahead.
She wrote: “Jamie and Quentin stood in the corner. Both men were looking down at the dirt floor, and as I walked toward them, Tarantino announced that we were all going home.”
Washington went on: “The scene would be cut from the script. Maybe it was something Jamie had said to Quentin days before that had finally seeped in, maybe something shifted for Quentin standing in that cabin. Either way, it was the answer to the prayers I had been whispering on my knees.”
Tarantino is yet to comment on her claims.
Last year, Tarantino dismissed Kanye West’s claim that the director stole his idea for the film.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored at the time, West said: “Tarantino can write a move about slavery where – actually him and Jamie [Foxx], they got the idea from me because the idea for Django I pitched to Jamie Foxx and Quentin Tarantino as they video for ‘Gold Digger’. And then Tarantino turned it into a him.”
Tarantino later responded to West’s claim, saying the rapper’s version of events “didn’t happen”.
Meanwhile, John Travolta has reportedly been cast in Tarantino’s next film The Movie Critic, joining his Pulp Fiction co-star Samuel L. Jackson on the rumoured cast list.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.