Steven Berkoff thinks people have used the #MeToo movement to settle "minor disgruntlements".
The ‘Octopussy’ actor thinks the initiative – where people detailed instances of sexual harassment or misconduct they have experienced – came from a "very good source" but suggested too many have used it in a bid to clear up small issues.
He said: "#MeToo is just a reaction and, as with all reactions, it tips over. It comes from a very good source, but it attracts the elements who have, you know, minor disgruntlements and minor little feelings that they’ve been disrespected. It tilts too heavily that way. But it will tip back."
But the 81-year-old playwright admitted he has had negative experiences with many of the people who have been accused of sexual misconduct, such as theatre director Max Stafford-Clark.
He told The Guardian newspaper: "What’s interesting is that I have had dealings with nearly every one of those people accused, and they have always been indifferent, arrogant, disinterested, pompous and sometimes downright rude. I found it really bizarre. I’d love to tell you who these b*****ds are.
"When [Stafford-Clark] was director of the Royal Court, for years I tried to get my plays put on there. He always replied, ‘No, we don’t have any room.’ Nothing, nothing, nothing."
Steven has written a one-act play, ‘Harvey’, about disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and if he can find a theatre to stage the production, he’s keen to take the lead role himself.
He said: "It’s a one-man show, about 15 pages of dense text. I’ve been trying to learn this over the past six months. It’s something I could do. I could play him.
"I like evil people. I’m like a surgeon who is happiest when working with a very diseased body.
"This is a creature, who offers freedom, offers to change your life, because once you hear that magic word ‘Action!’ – wow, you’ll be changed from this small, simpering B-movie actress. Suddenly on the screen, you’re touching magic, you become immortal. He’s offering that for just a few minutes in the shower."
Steven Berkoff: MeToo is a ‘reaction’
