Extra kissed by Francis Ford Coppola on Megalopolis set speaks out, calls it shocking

In July, two videos of director Francis Ford Coppola, 85, abruptly kissing background female actors on the set of Megalopolis emerged online. Clips published by Variety show behind-the-scenes footage of the movie set, capturing Coppola walking onto the dance floor of a club before he holds a female extra and shockingly plants a kiss on her.

A week after the videos were made public, an extra came forward to talk about thekissing scene that involved legendary director Francis Ford Coppola.

Lauren Pagone,one of the side actresses who appeared in the video, came forward to talkabout Francis' actions.

Pagone, who has appeared in multiple scenes in Megalopolis, said she was dancing during a live take of the club scene when the director approached and kissed her.

“I was in shock. I didn’t expect him to kiss and hug me like that. I was caught off guard. And I can tell you, he came around a couple times.”

Pagone decided to talk about the matter after another extra,Rayna Menz, seen in one of the two videos, decided to talk about it.

Menz told Deadline that Coppola “did nothing to make me or, for that matter, anyone on set feel uncomfortable.”

However, Pagone didn't appreciate MenZ' sharing a comment on behalf of the entire crew. She said, “I don’t appreciate anybody speaking for me. I would never speak for that actress.”

Pagone adds, “I’ve kept my mouth shut. I’ve kept quiet. But it’s frustrating that she’s putting out there, ‘Hey, it was great for everyone’ when she doesn’t know what other people were feeling. You can’t speak for anyone but yourself. My experience was different.”

Coppola is busy working on his next epic, Megalopolis, a film that has been in the making for over three decades now. In this sci-fi drama, Adam Driver plays the role of Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who wants to build an idealistic city.

The legendary filmmaker has invested $120 million in the movie, which has been dubbed as his most passionate project.

Talking about spending such a massive amount, the director told GQ, “I couldn’t care less about the financial impact whatsoever. It means nothing to me.''