Steve Martin ‘Objects’ to Miriam Margolyes’ ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Allegations: ‘Never Any Physical Contact’
The comedian said he took "extreme caution" while filming a scene with the 'Harry Potter' actress
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Steve Martin took objection to his Little Shop of Horrors co-star Miriam Margolyes’ recent allegation that he actually hit her when they filmed their scenes together in the 1986 musical.
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Only Murders in the Building star said he was “surprised” when he first read Margolyes’ account of their scene.
“My memory is that we had a good communication as professional actors,” Martin’s statement read. “But when it is implied that I harmed her or was in some way careless about doing the stunts, I have to object. I remember taking EXTREME caution regarding the fake punch — the same caution I would use with any similar scene.”
Martin said Margolyes, 82, told him she was OK after filming, adding that director Frank Oz and others were on the set to make sure nothing went wrong.
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“There was never any physical contact between her and me, accidental or otherwise, in this scene or any other we shot,” Martin continued.
“I always rehearse physical actions in slow motion,” Oz wrote in his own statement. “The scene was supposed to include a fake punch. It’s puzzling what she’s talking about. It’s not the Steve I know or anyone knows. He’s always been professional and respectful of everyone on all of my shoots.”
Martin played dentist Orin Scrivello, with Margoyles playing his nurse in Little Shop of Horrors. During his song “Dentist!,” Scrivello punched his nurse and slammed the door in her face.
In her new memoir Oh Miriam: Stories from an Extraordinary Life, the Harry Potter actress claimed that Martin actually struck her while filming their scenes.
“I was hit all day by doors opening in my face; repeatedly punched, slapped and knocked down by an unlovely and unapologetic Steve Martin — perhaps he was method acting — and came home grumpy with a splitting headache,” Margolyes wrote, per the Huffington Post. “Let it not be said that I have never suffered in the name of art.”
She went on to write that Martin was “undeniably brilliant, but horrid to me.”
Margolyes compared Martin to Steve Buscemi, whom she worked with in Ed and His Dead Mother in 1993. She called the Big Lebowski star, 65, “unerringly sweet,” adding that he “knocked spots off Steve Martin.”
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The actress also admitted to not being a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last year, she told news.com.au’s I’ve Got News for You podcast that the former California governor, 76, “farted in my face” when they made End of Days together in 1999.
“Now, I fart, of course I do — but I don’t fart in people’s faces. He did it deliberately, right in my face,” Margolyes said, adding that she thought Schwarzenegger was “a bit too full of himself.”
Oh Miriam will be released in January.
