Earlier this week, it was reported that background actors for the new HBO sci-fi series Westworld were asked to sign a consent form listing several graphic sex acts and requiring nudity. It even drew concern from SAG-AFTRA, which sent a union rep to the set on Thursday. HBO has finally responded to issue and insists that it was not written up by the network.
“The document that the background actors were given was created by an outside extras casting vendor,” HBO told Entertainment Weekly. “It was not requested, written or approved by HBO, Warner Bros. Television, or the producers, and contains situations that we do not require of any actor.”
The network added, “We are rectifying immediately the discrepancies in this vendor’s document with our actual on-set practices, which provide a professional and comfortable working environment for all performers.”
As we previously reported, a document from Central Casting hit the web and it listed several specific sex acts, including “genital-to-genital touching” and simulating oral sex. It even says that background actors could be required to “contort to form a table-like shape while being fully nude; pose on all fours while others who are fully nude ride on your back,” and “ride on someone’s back while you are both fully nude.”
Despite HBO’s response, which tossed the hot potato to Central Casting, SAG-AFTRA told Deadline that it is not happy with how HBO is handling the situation.
“SAG-AFTRA sent the consent form to HBO [Tuesday] afternoon and requested that the document be changed to more accurately reflect the contractual provisions,” a spokesperson for the union told Deadline. “HBO had every opportunity to rectify this situation, and it was only after their direct refusal to remedy this that we posted the notice on our website. The union is very pleased to hear that HBO is doing the right thing now, but it is disappointing that we had to take such public measures to ensure compliance with our contracts and protect our background actors.”
Central Casting and its parent company, Entertainment Partners, have yet to comment on the issue.
Wortworld is based on Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name, which is about a Western theme park where lifelike robots get out of control. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden.