Samantha Morton has enjoyed great success throughout her decades-long career since rising to prominence thanks to 1997’s Under the Skin. But back in the early ’00s, Morton’s career came to a brief standstill after she turned down one of Harvey Weinstein’s projects, resulting in a tough few years for the actress in Hollywood.
Following her impeccable performance in Under the Skin, the actress caught the attention of disgraced producer Weinstein, who was adamant about getting her involved in one of his movies. But things went south after the TWD Star refused Weinstein’s offer, leading to her career taking a major toll, losing out on 2005’s The Brothers Grimm, starring Heath Ledger.
Harvey Weinstein Threatened to Destroy Samantha Morton’s Career Claimed the Actress
After witnessing Samantha Morton’s exquisite skills as an actor, Harvey Weinstein was fixated on bringing the actress to About Adam to star alongside her Under the Skin costar Stuart Townsend. However, the actress was less than thrilled about the offer, stating that the film was “really misogynistic”, and that she didn’t want to be a part of it. But the movie mogul wasn’t inclined to take no for an answer, as Morton claimed that Weinstein threatened to destroy her career. He further replaced her with Lena Headey in The Brothers Grimm, reasoning that Morton was“unf**kable.”
Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, she said,
“I said, ‘I don’t like it, I think the film is really misogynistic and I don’t want to be part of it… I [then] had a phone call saying, ‘You can’t say no.’ The ‘no’ wasn’t being listened to. So they kept coming back with this role and I was told unequivocally, ‘You’re not going to work again unless you do this role. I’m going to make your life hell. You will not work again.'”
Despite Weinstein’s threats, Morton stood her ground and passed on the offer, and fortunately, it didn’t take long for the actress to bounce back.
Samantha Morton Didn’t Let Harvey Weinstein’s Attempts to Sabotage Her Succeed
While anything from Miramax was bad news for the actress moving forward, Samantha Morton’s career didn’t wash off as disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein might’ve aimed for. Despite being blackballed on his films, the actress kept on witnessing success by starring in acclaimed Indie films and even starred alongside Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. In the same podcast, she explained,
“He had a reason, a deep-seated reason, to just try and destroy my career… He categorically couldn’t, because I kept working, doing independent cinema all over the world.”
While Samantha Morton kept on witnessing success both in front and behind the lens, Harvey Weinstein’s career eventually fell off after he was convicted of r-pe and other criminal charges.
Minority Report is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
