Matthew Lawrence Talks About Marvel’s Casting Couch
It appears Marvel has a casting couch. On a recent episode of the podcast Brotherly Love, hosted by the Lawrence Brothers (people who didn’t grow up in the 90s are excused from knowing who they are), actor Matthew Lawrence tells a story about a harrowing Hollywood experience when he was auditioning for a part in a Marvel movie.
“There’s been many times in my life where I’ve been propositioned to get a huge role. I’ve lost my agency because I went to the hotel room – which I can’t believe they even sent me to – of a very prominent Oscar-award-winning director who showed up in his robe, asked me to take pictures with my clothes off and said he needed to take Polaroids of me, and that if I did X, Y, and Z, I would be the next Marvel character. I didn’t do that, and my agency fired me because I left this director’s room.”
You can watch the entire discussion below; Matthew Lawrence’s story is at the beginning, but the whole talk is interesting and examines different Hollywood pitfalls from kids who grew up in that world.
It’s scary to think this still goes on, although I guess it shouldn’t be all that surprising. What’s scarier is how Matthew Lawrence’s agency acted as a pipeline for these pigs and dropped him when he wouldn’t compromise himself. Hollywood has done this for ages, but it’s even more egregious now while they’re acting like the rest of the world’s moral betters. As for which Marvel director Lawrence is talking about, I don’t know for sure – and I’m damn skippy not speculating in public – but I can make a couple of guesses based on Lawrence’s age, general look, and who’s won an Oscar.
