Actor Tom Sizemore was dismissed from a movie set in 2003 following allegations he molested an 11-year-old girl, according to a group of cast and crew members present at the time.
The Hollywood Reporter cites a dozen individuals familiar with the event, which had not yet been made public. The publication chose not to print the alleged victim’s name at her request.
Actor Robyn Adamson, who portrayed Sizemore’s wife on Born Killers, states the incident took place during a second-unit photo shoot with Sizemore and the young girl. She sat on his lap for one of the photos.
“At one point her eyes got just huge, like she could’ve vomited,” Adamson said.
“I was watching her. She soon reintegrated and kept going, although she had trouble taking direction. Later, when I was told about what happened, I knew exactly what it was.”
Casting director Catrine McGregor says she was informed of the matter by the girl’s parents, who said that when their daughter put on bathers the next day, “it reminded her of the day before, in an upsetting way — that the bathing suit’s contact against her felt like what happened when the man had put his finger inside her.”
McGregor said she immediately registered a formal complaint with the Screen Actor’s Guild and vouched for Sizemore’s removal from the set.
Production assistant Roi Mufas said the wider crew quickly learned of the allegation, and that “we all thought, ‘That fucking sleazebag.’ There was never any doubt.”
Mufas says some members of the production staff “reached for hammers” and had to be talked down from confronting Sizemore.
Three of the film’s producers said Sizemore was removed from the set as soon as they learned about the accusation, but claimed examination of the photos taken on-set didn’t provide material evidence of the girl’s abuse.
The producers claim they still advocated for the girl’s parents to seek legal action against Sizemore. While they did speak to the police about the alleged incident, no charges were filed.
McGregor speculated it was possible the girl’s parents “didn’t want to possibly ruin their daughter’s film career” over the incident.
Sizemore was eventually invited back to a different set for a series of re-shoots. Producer Gus Spoliansky said they had a “fiduciary responsibility” to oversee the film’s continued production, even though producers “took the allegation extremely seriously” and “were willing to do anything, including dismissing Tom.
“We just couldn’t be police, judge and jury.”
Sizemore reportedly denied the allegation at the time, telling one producer “I’ve done a lot of awful things, and I’d never do anything with kids.” When questioned by the Hollywood Reporter over the allegation, his agent Stephen Rice said “our position is ‘no comment.’”
The girl at the centre of the allegations, who is now 26, says she’s currently looking at legal options against both Sizemore and her parents.
Sizemore, whose filmography includes Natural Born Killers, Saving Private Ryan, and a recent turn in Twin Peaks: The Return, was convicted in 2003 of physically abusing his partner Heidi Fleiss. He was sentenced to six months behind bars.
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