News/Commentary

‘I have to object’: Steve Martin throws cold water on claim by ‘Harry Potter’ actress that he ‘punched’ her

September 17, 2023 | | Print Article

Legendary actor Steve Martin says former co-star Miriam Margoyles’ accusations against him are 100 percent bull.

Margoyles starred with Martin in the 1986 comedy “Little Shop of Horrors,” playing the dental assistant to Martin’s sadistic character, Orin Scrivello.

During one scene in the movie, Scrivello repeatedly punched Margolyes’ character and slammed a door in her face.

At least one punch can be seen in the clip below around the 40-second mark:

Fast-forward to earlier this year, when Margoyles released a memoir, “Oh Miriam! Stories From an Extraordinary Life,” in which she claimed that Martin had taken things too far during the filming of the scene.

“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 wrote, as reported by HuffPost.

“Let it not be said that I have never suffered in the name of art,” she continued, adding that Martin had been “undeniably brilliant, but horrid to me.”

She later doubled down on these accusations in an interview with news.com.au.

“He (Steve Martin) 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,” she said.

“I would have included the person I was working with. He wasn’t interested in that. I just thought he was rather horrid. He was a c–t. That’s all I can tell you,” she added.

Martin has since responded to these accusations by crying foul.

“When I first read Miriam Margolyes’ pejorative account of our scene in Little Shop of Horrors, I was surprised. My memory is that we had a good communication as professional actors,” he said in a statement.

“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. She assured me she felt fine, and we did a few successful takes and stopped. There was never any physical contact between her and me, accidental or otherwise, in this scene or any other we shot,” he added.

“Also on the set, keeping their eyes on the action, was the highly skilled and sensitive director, Frank Oz, a stunt coordinator, a camera crew, a script supervisor, as well as extras who witnessed the entire, very-well rehearsed scene,” he continued.

And incidentally, Oz backs what Martin said.

“I always rehearse physical actions in slow motion. 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,” he told HuffPost.

What does the public think? Many seem to think, based on Margoyles’ other behavior and actions, that she’s full of it.

“She can’t bloody talk, I saw her at a convention years ago and she was extremely rude to people wanting a photo of her!” one critic tweeted.

“This is literally the first time in decades of fame that anyone has said anything bad about Steve Martin, and I don’t even remotely believe a single word of it is true,” another critic added.

See more responses below:

Notice what one critic said about her always saying bad things about men. It may or may not be relevant, but it turns out she’s also a raging leftist who hates right-wingers and thinks they’re all a bunch of incompetent racists.

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Vivek Saxena
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