Frank Langella was ousted from ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ series after Netflix determined the 84-year-old actor engaged in sexual harassment on set, TheWrap reported Wednesday, citing a production source.
Deadline confirmed the firing and said Langella’s lead role, patriarch Roderick Usher, once played by Vincent Price in a 1960 film, will be recast, even though production is halfway done. Langella’s scenes will be redone, according to the entertainment site.
TMZ reported earlier this week that Netflix is investigating a misconduct allegation against Langella. He made an inappropriate sex joke and “in the context of his performance, possibly during rehearsal, he touched a female costar’s leg, and further drew attention to the action when he said joking something like ‘Did you like this?'” TMZ wrote, citing unnamed sources on set.
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The miniseries, based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, features Kate Siegel, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Mark Hamill, Willa Fitzgerald, Mary McDonnell, Annabeth Gish and Carl Lumbly in the cast.
Four-time Tony winner Langella was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Richard Nixon in “Frost/Nixon.” He won a Tony for Best Actor for the role in the stage version.
He played the judge in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” in 2020 and had a regular role in the spy series “The Americans”.
Netflix declined to comment. HuffPost did not immediately receive a response from Langella’s representatives.
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