Inside Miriam Margolyes' claims of mistreatment from former co-star Steve Martin

18 September 2023 , 10:04

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Inside Miriam Margolyes' claims of mistreatment from former co-star Steve Martin

Miriam Margolyes claimed her Little Shop of Horrors co-star Steve Martin was "horrid" to her on set and "actually hit her" during a stunt scene together.

Miriam, 82, played a dental receptionist to Martin’s villainous Orin Scrivello in the 1986 movie. In her memoir, Oh Miriam! Stories From an Extraordinary Life, the actress claimed that Steve actually struck her while they were performing a stunt together. He has denied the allegations.

In the scene, Steve's character was meant to fake punch Miriam's character and slam a door in her face in a musical number. Miriam wrote: "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,” she added that Steve was "undeniably brilliant but horrid to me.”

Miriam says that Steve was "undeniably brilliant but horrid to me" (Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

Miriam claims Steve hit her (S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

During an interview with an Australian news site last week, she also claimed that it took her and Steve several tries to nail a scene and admitted that he was "a c**t" and "rather horrid" to work with. She told the site: "Steve was and is brilliant, this is not about his talent, just about his kindness at that time in his life.

“He was incredibly unfriendly, because he was a perfectionist. He was an artist and all he was interested in was getting the comic moment right, and he was correct to do that, but he should have included me," Miriam said. "I would have included the person I was working with. He wasn’t interested in that." She concluded: "I just thought he was rather horrid. He was a c**t, that’s all I can tell you."

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Steve has denied the accusations (WireImage)

Fans were shocked at the claims as the award-winning actor has been largely uncontroversial during his long career in Hollywood. Following the accusations, Martin shared a statement to the Hollywood Reporter stating that he had a very different experience on set and recalled taking "extreme caution" during the stunt in question.

Steve has since spoken out about the claims, stating that he took "extreme caution regarding the fake punch," adding that there was "never any physical contact between her and me, accidental or otherwise, in this scene or any other we shot."

Lauren Gordon