Robert Lindsay was kicked off Shakespeare In Love after confronting Harvey Weinstein

Updated
Ronnie Corbett Memorial Service - Arrivals
Ronnie Corbett Memorial Service - Arrivals

Robert Lindsay has revealed he was kicked out of Shakespeare In Love after a row with Harvey Weinstein.

The actor was scheduled to perform alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in the Oscar-winning 1998 movie, until the producer overruled the casting decision.

Lindsay confirmed his early involvement in the film on Twitter after a former co-star Molly Ringwald detailed their joint battle with Weinstein over another movie.

On Tuesday, Ringwald wrote in the New Yorker magazine how Weinstein 'interfered' with their 1990 film Strike It Rich, as well as writing about sexual harassment she had suffered at the hands of others in Hollywood.

The British film was adapted from Graham Greene's novel Loser Takes It All and starred Ringwald and Lindsay in the leading roles.

Ringwald wrote: "The worst I had to contend with was performing new pages that Harvey had someone else write, which were not in the script; my co-star, Robert Lindsay, and I had signed off to do a film adapted and directed by one person, and then were essentially asked to turn our backs on him and film scenes that were not what we had agreed to."

The film title was changed from Loser Takes It All to Strike It Rich and Ringwald claimed it was completely marketed wrong with the poster being far removed from the plotline.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the award-winning actor said: "Yes she's right and because I confronted him he basically halted my film career...

Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Gala
Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Gala

"#HarveyWeinstein represented everything I came to hate about movies if he owned a movie he owned everyone in it.

"When I confronted him little did I know the impact on my career... Having been cast in Shakespeare in Love he told the director NO Lindsay."

In a 2006 interview with the Daily Telegraph, Lindsay admitted he regretted his bust-up with Weinstein on the set of Strike It Rich.

He recalled: "I had a brief Hollywood moment in the '80s... do I regret it? Yes. I regret it because these people turned out to be the most powerful people in Hollywood. I mean, you don't turn round to Harvey Weinstein and call him a w**ker and pin him up against a wall."

Lindsay is one of Britain's most successful TV and stage actors, having appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has won Bafta, Olivier and Tony Awards on both sides of the Atlantic.

He famously starred alongside Zoe Wanamaker in hit BBC sitcom My Family, which averaged 4.6million viewers.

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