Emily Deschanel: On-Set Assault & Harassment Story

Emily Deschanel Recounts On-Set Harassment During Early Acting Role

A disturbing account of early-career harassment has emerged from actress Emily Deschanel, who detailed an incident on set involving unwanted physical contact and a subsequent, complicated dynamic with the perpetrator. Deschanel shared the experience on her podcast, revealing a moment that left her feeling vulnerable and questioning her response.

Deschanel, known for her role in the long-running series Bones, recounted the incident while speaking with her former co-star Carla Gallo on their Boneheads rewatch podcast. She described a situation during one of her first professional acting jobs where an actor unexpectedly touched her inappropriately.

“One of my first jobs… As they said, ‘Rolling,’ the actor was behind me. He just put his hand on my ass,” Deschanel stated. The actress explained that despite having some familiarity with film sets through her family – her father, Caleb Deschanel, is a cinematographer, and both her mother, Mary Jo Deschanel, and sister, Zooey Deschanel, are actresses – she was deeply shaken by the experience.

The incident occurred while she was on camera and feeling particularly nervous. “I was so scared, even though I’d been on sets before in my life because my family works on them,” she explained. She initially reacted by attempting to continue the scene, feeling a sense of powerlessness. “This was my first time as, like, a real acting job… he just put his hand on my butt, and I just was like, ‘Just continue with the scene,’” she recalled, adding that she felt as though “the hammer was on me at all times.”

Deschanel clarified that the actor’s actions were not part of the scene and were deliberately concealed from the camera. “Oh, no, no. And the camera couldn’t see it. It was like his little power play to me,” she said. The behavior continued on subsequent takes, with the actor even going so far as to sniff her hair in a manner she described as “creepy.”

Despite her initial fear and lack of confidence – she estimated she was around 23 years old at the time – Deschanel ultimately confronted the actor. “I turned around, and I said, ‘Don’t you ever do that again.’ And he didn’t,” she recounted. What followed, however, was a surprising turn of events: the two eventually became “kind of friends.”

Deschanel acknowledged the complexity of this dynamic, describing it as a potentially manipulative tactic often employed by abusers. “It’s a very complicated thing. It was because my friend became friends with him, then I became friends with him… I think there’s a psychological thing where you want to normalize it for them,” she explained. She was careful to emphasize that she did not equate the incident with severe forms of abuse, stating, “this is minor abuse, and people experience much worse things in life.” However, she recognized the unsettling tendency to rationalize the behavior, even as a victim.