Oscar winner Rush accused of stroking co-star’s breast on stage
OSCAR-winner Geoffrey Rush touched his co-star’s breast and humiliated her with sexual innuendo during a production of ‘King Lear’, an Australian court has been told.
Rush is suing over a series of articles saying he was the subject of a complaint to the Sydney Theatre Company regarding the 2015 production.
Under the headline ‘KING LEER’ and in later articles, Sydney’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper claimed last year that the actor, in the title role, had been accused by a co-star of unspecified inappropriate conduct.
Eryn Jean Norvill, who played Lear’s daughter Cordelia, was called to give evidence
by ‘Telegraph’ publisher News Corp which stands by the stories.
Norvill said that in a performance of a climactic scene, where she was playing dead, Rush stroked her right breast slowly with his fingers.
Rush (67), who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1997 for ‘Shine’, has denied any improper conduct.