‘There is a revolution happening’
Canadian entertainment industry is hoping to change culture of sexual harassment
When she was a teen, Kristin Kreuk’s mother sent her to karate school to learn how to defend herself.
“The idea was to kick people in case they attacked me,” says the 34-yearold Vancouver-born actor, perhaps best known as Lana Lang on CW’s Smallville or detective Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast.
As a young actor, Kreuk says she wasn’t taught the concept of consent, or how to deal with inappropriate touching, where your attacker may not be wielding a knife. She just figured that sexism in the movie industry was a fact of life. And in her two-decade career, she says she has, until this year, never felt truly safe.
“I’ve always felt like this is a boys’ club. I’ve never felt safe on set,” Kreuk says. “Sexual harassment is pervasive and insidious and it exists. It’s not always the crazy stuff you hear about. It can be more subtle. But it’s a fact of life.”
It’s an astonishing admission from an actor with millions of fans that she has never felt safe in her own work environment. But Kreuk’s statement is not an outlier. She is voicing what many in the industry feel, but haven’t addressed en masse, until now.
In a watershed moment for the industry, and in a kind of unprecedented universal reckoning, television and film executives and unions are urgently exploring ways to combat harassment in the wake of allegations over disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and an evergrowing list of accused, including actor Kevin Spacey, comic Louis C.K., director James Toback and Just For Laughs co-founder Gilbert Rozon.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that as cultural mores shifted so dramatically this year, Time Magazine dedicated its Person of the Year designation this week to the “Silence Breakers” — the voices that launched a movement.
And the sexual-harassment issue has not been restricted to film and television: Allegations and repercussions have permeated the sports, media and political worlds in what seems to be a sea change in attitude toward a problem that has long been acknowledged, but never truly dealt with in a comprehensive fashion.
“There is a revolution happening. And every dude out there has to look in the mirror,” says Newfoundland actor Allan Hawco ( Republic of Doyle, Frontier).
Hawco says as a younger actor, he too was subjected to harassment from people in the industry with power over his career.
“I’ve been through it, too, to be honest. I’ve experienced it as a man in my younger years with a producer or a casting director. I haven’t had it to the extent of some people, and I’ve only had a taste of it. And that was a different time, too. But these are interesting times.”
Hawco says in one instance he turned down the role he was offered.
Because of the larger conversation on harassment in the industry, Hawco says he is communicating with friends more openly on the subject.
“I have a lot of friends and I am only discovering now they’ve been subjected to that their whole careers. I have a friend who was on a show with someone who has now been publicly outed (for harassment). And for a while that was her whole life. As a guy you don’t think about these things. But you have to look at yourself as a man if you are doing anything, if you are in a position of power. I feel like it’s a time of deep reflection for everybody.”
Jill Hennessy, the Edmonton-born actor who is most familiar to viewers on American television series such as Law & Order and Crossing Jordan, says she has managed to extract herself from compromising situations as part of her job.
“I’ve walked out of certain situations. And I’m lucky I got out,” Hennessy says. “But some of my friends weren’t so lucky. I know women and men who went through this. However, there were things over the years that I saw on sets that infuriated me. And I let it be known. So I haven’t been silent.”
Hennessy says that even having the conversation means that change is possible.
“I like to think that any other people out there right now who perpetuate these acts are looking at themselves right now . . . This is an incredibly brutal and important subject for women and men. And I hope it’s a moment where we see change. And maybe internal change in people who didn’t see this as a big deal.”
In response to the sexual-harassment fallout, Canadian creative industry stakeholders held meetings in the past few weeks to try and come up with a regulatory framework to respond to harassment, discrimina- tion, bullying and violence in the workplace.
First steps include launching an education campaign, enacting an industry-wide code of conduct and creating more effective reporting mechanisms and supports.
“There are an unprecedented number of industry stakeholders gathering around the table,” says David Sparrow, the national president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts (ACTRA).
“Our members are telling us we need to effect real change. The whole industry realizes that this is a different landscape that we’re in, that perpetrators will not be permitted to repeat their behaviour.”
Sparrow says since the allegations against Weinstein were revealed, ACTRA has received dozens of calls from victims across Canada alleging harassment in their workplaces. He said the union is investigating the complaints.
“We are encouraged by the fact that people have been very brave to come forward. Investigations are taking place, and part of the process is what will be our next steps to either ensuring the perpetrator is re-educated or faces a more dire consequence,” Sparrow says. “It is our responsibility to make sure this kind of behaviour doesn’t befall the next generation.”
In the meantime, the Toronto branch of the union has renamed its hotline the Sexual Harassment and Emergency Hotline and is encouraging members to call with any workplace complaints. But not everyone is happy about the way the industry and unions have historically responded to sexual misconduct, including Canadian actor Mia Kirshner, who helped form the #AfterMeToo movement after describing her own ordeal with Weinstein.
“Up until recently, our stories were met with indifference by some of our representatives and even the institu- tions who are in a position to protect us,” Kirshner wrote this week in the Hollywood Reporter. “The whistleblowers were at the bottom of a caste system determined by priorities that deem preservation of income streams and power more important than the protection of humanity in our workspaces.”
Sparrow, meanwhile, feels this may be a moment where Canada can step forward as a global leader on the issue.
“We are already known for tremendous crews and performers and for our diversity. This can only benefit Canada as a shooting location as we move forward. Canada needs to be a leader in this to ensure everyone can go to work without fear of harassment.”
One way the industry can effect systemic change is the makeup of men and women who are in front of and behind the cameras. Having more women in leadership roles changes the power dynamic in an industry where the top executives are overwhelming male, insiders say. How to get there is another issue. But change starts with a conversation.
“What is surprising and heartening is that people are making a difference,” Kreuk says. “People are feeling consequences and women are feeling more emboldened and empowered to come forward and speak to their experiences. And that will change our industry and beyond.”
Kreuk says this year, for the first time, she has felt safe in her own work environment, while creating the CBC limited series Burden of Truth, shot in western Canada.
But that, too, is about the balance of power. In addition to being the star, Kreuk is an executive producer on the show, so she calls the shots.
That’s unlike earlier in her career when she was the hired help in front of the camera — not the person who made the executive decisions.
“Men are changing, too. It takes both of us. On my show, there are great male advocates who take these things seriously,” she adds.
And she says the culture is changing as well. “Being female, the minute I was 14 or 15 years old, it starts by being bugged on the street the minute you hit puberty by adult men when you are so clearly a child,” Kreuk says.
“So it starts happening when you’re so young. And as I grew up, I started to believe that it was part of my job to handle that. And going into the industry that it was normal. “But now I work with some young actresses on my show and they’re much more clear on the rules of consent. If they don’t want someone to touch them they would say no. I didn’t know how to do that at that age. I would laugh it off, or smile or make them feel OK. That’s how I was conditioned.” Now, when younger women ask Kreuk for advice, she tells that that they shouldn’t doubt themselves. “Stand your ground. It’s not your job to make someone feel good all the time. And trust your gut. If you feel something is wrong, there is probably something wrong. Don’t ever be afraid to speak out.”
“I’ve been through it, too, to be honest. I’ve experienced it as a man in my younger years with a producer or a casting director.” ALLAN HAWCO ACTOR “I’ve walked out of certain situations. And I’m lucky I got out . . . But some of my friends weren’t so lucky. I know women and men who went through this.” JILL HENNESSY ACTOR