Rape is Always a Troublesome Subject
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now)
The studio head of Paramount Pictures hated the proposed screen treatment of the film The Accused feeling it an esoteric rape movie better suited to television and a non-event as a movie without a strong male role to hold it together. However, the script did feature strong female roles, was based on a headline making rape case and had initially attracted the main interest of star Jane Fonda. Fonda wanted the script re-written by a woman first but when the script proved unsatisfactory, bowed out of the project. Kelly McGillis was then a rising star having been featured in both Top Gun and Witness and agreed to do the film, although she did not want to portray the rape victim, herself having been raped some years before. The producer finally convinced the studio head to finance the film by promising to keep the budget extremely low, so that the studio would not lose much if the film flopped, as the studio head felt that it would inevitably do. For the role of the rape victim, the producers turned to an actress then wrapped up in doubts about her acting career and thinking of even abandoning it – Jodie Foster – although at first they didn’t even want to audition her for the part. In the end, Foster won an Academy Award for the role and the film was a hit.