Australian actress describes the alleged sexual harassment by Geoffrey Rush
The actress Eryn-Jean Norvill today described her feeling of "shame" for the alleged gestures of sexual harassment of her co-star Geoffrey Rush, in front of a court where a defamation complaint against the information published by an Australian media .
Rush accuses the Nationwide News company, owner of the Daily Telegraph and subsidiary of News Corp Australia, of messing up his name in an article by journalist Jonathan Moran published on November 30, 2017 and accusing him of "inappropriate behavior" in front of a fellow , which was later known to be Norvill.
The Australian actress, who coincided with Rush in Sydney between 2015 and 2016 during the play "King Lear", appeared at the trial to comment on the actor's behavior toward her.
Norvill, who acted in the play as Rush's daughter, said that she was lying on her back and that at a time when "she had her eyes closed" she remembers "to hear nervous giggles, murmurs, reactions around the rehearsal room" and when opening Her eyes saw Rush kneeling over her, ABC reports.
In that scene, Rush had to express his grief over the death of his daughter's character.
"He had both hands above my torso and gestured as he stroked my body up and down and tempting or doing (with his hands) the shape of my breasts," said the young actress, noting that Rush did at the same time gestures with his eyebrows and eyes, he smiled and licked his lips.
Norvill commented that at that moment the director of the work, Neil Armfield, repressed him saying: "Geoffrey, stop."
The actress insisted that the alleged offense against her "could not have been an accident", when she related that at another time Rush put his hands under her armpits, along the lateral part of her breasts; and on his lips.
"I think he did it deliberately," said Norvill, who felt "trapped" because she was in full scene embodying a corpse.
She also stated that she was intimidated by the actor's fame, which accused those present in the rehearsal hall of being "accomplices" and the director for showing that he had no problems with the behavior attributed to Rush.
Last week, the 1996 Oscar winner for his performance in "Shine" and also known for portraying Captain Hector Barbossa in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" saga, told the court that the accusations, which he denies, affected strongly his life and his career.
The lawyer Brice McClintock, who defends Rush, argued during the hearing before the court that his client's income fell from the equivalent of $ 1 million or 926,669 euros to $ 31,342 or 27,182 euros).
