Francis Ford Coppola denies claims that he directed male actors to yell at Winona Ryder

Francis Ford Coppola, the director of Bram Stoker's Dracula, recently denied the claim made by actor Winona Ryder that male actors in the film were instructed to shout insults at her during the filming of one scene. Recently, Winona Ryder spoke in an interview with a news portal and recalled that for one of the scenes, she was supposed to be crying.

In order to ''make her try more'', director Coppola instructed male costars like Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, and Anthony Hopkins to shout insults at Winona. Here is what director Francis Ford Coppola has to say about the incident now: 

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Francis Ford Coppola clears the air

Director Francis Ford Coppola sent out a statement to an entertainment portal in the USA and described that the incident did not go down the way Winona has recalled it. The director stated that shouting or abusing people isn't something he does as a filmmaker or a person. According to the director, he only instructed Gary Oldman, in character as Dracula, to whisper improvised lines to Winona and other characters and make them sound ''horrific''. The director stated that improvisation is a common practice in filmmaking.

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Image courtesy - Still from Bran Stoker's Dracula

Winona Ryder's representatives have now come forward and released a statement that reads that the actor & director are now in agreement and Coppola's recollection of the incident is indeed correct. The reps reaffirmed that the director asked various actors to whisper ''horrible things in her ears''. Although the technique did not work for the actor, she said she loves and respects the director nonetheless. The statement also read that Winona Ryder considers it a great privilege to have worked with him. 

Also read: When Keanu Reeves refused to make Winona Ryder cry on the sets of 'Dracula'; Details here

While recounting her experience on Coppola's Dracula film, Ryder had previously stated that Richard Grant, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves were pursued by the directors to 'yell' things that would make her cry. But she also added that Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins did not entertain the idea in any way. In conclusion, the actor had stated that the technique adopted by the director actually did not work in any way. 

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