Michael Caine won an Academy Award for his supporting role in the 1986 Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters, but he won’t work with the director again, joining the growing group of actors who are shunning Allen in light of Dylan Farrow’s sexual abuse allegations against him.
In an interview with The Guardian, Caine addressed Farrow’s longstanding accusation that Allen, her adoptive father, molested her when she was seven years old. “I am so stunned,” Caine said, when asked what he made of the accusation. “I’m a patron of the [National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children] and have very strong views about paedophilia. I can’t come to terms with it, because I loved Woody and had a wonderful time with him. I even introduced him to Mia [Farrow].” Caine added that while he didn’t regret making Hannah and Her Sisters, which was released six years before Allen allegedly abused Farrow, “I wouldn’t work with him again, no.”
The allegations against Allen were made public in 1992, and Farrow has gone on record several times about the alleged abuse in recent years. Actors have continued to appear in his films all this time, but there’s been renewed focus on Allen in light of the #MeToo movement, and over the last few months a number of prominent actors have expressed regret over and/or sworn off working with him. These include: Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall, Greta Gerwig, Mira Sorvino, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ellen Page.
Timothée Chalamet seems to be on the fence. Alec Baldwin, meanwhile, is pro-Allen, and rather loudly so.