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Kirsten Dunst says actresses ‘court’ the casting couch

In an April 17 interview with W magazine, Kirsten Dunst raised eyebrows with her opinion about the infamous Hollywood "casting couch."

In a chat with filmmaker Sofia Coppola, the "Melancholia" star laughed at the prospect of being on Hollywood's infamous casting couch, referring to situations in which actresses are encouraged to trade sexual favors for roles.

"I don’t give off that vibe," Dunst said in the interview. "I think that you court that stuff, and to me it’s crossing a boundary that would hinder the trust in your working relationship."

But a number of actresses have previously spoken out about their casting couch experiences, which actually did not involve any "courting," as Dunst might say.

In 2013, British actress Thandie Newton recalled to CNN a "horrific incident" in which a casting director exploited her when she was a teenager. The 41-year-old actress said that during the audition, the camera was surreptitiously positioned in a way that it was able to film up her skirt, and then the director asked her to touch herself. Newton later found out he showed the footage at parties.

In a 2012 interview with Elle magazine, Susan Sarandon described a rather brutal encounter she had as a young actress. “I just went into a room, and a guy practically threw me on the desk," the "Cloud Atlas" star said. "It was my early days in New York, and it was really disgusting."

Gwyneth Paltrow told the same magazine in 2010 that she also faced the casting couch as a young starlet. "When I was just starting out, someone suggested that we finish a meeting in the bedroom," she said. "I left. I was pretty shocked. I could see how someone who didn't know better might worry, 'My career will be ruined if I don't give this guy a b--- job!'"

Charlize Theron was less worried and more surprised when she was propositioned early on in her career. The 38-year-old actress told OK! magazine in 2009 that she encountered the casting couch after she traveled to the U.S. from South Africa at age 19. At one point, Theron recalled, she was called for a meeting at the home of a Hollywood bigwig.

"I thought it was a little odd that the audition was on a Saturday night at his house in Los Angeles, but I thought maybe that was normal," she said. "He was in his Hugh Hefner pyjamas. I go inside and he's offering me a drink, and I'm thinking, 'My God, this acting stuff is very relaxed.' But it soon becomes very clear what the situation was. I was like, 'Not going to happen! Got the wrong girl, buddy!'"

Megan Fox said her casting couch experience actually occurred after she was famous. "Like, Hollywood legends. You think you're going to meet them and you're so excited, like, 'I can't believe this person wants to have a conversation with me,' and you get there and you realize that's not what they want, at all," she told British GQ in 2009.

None of those stories sound like the actresses were courting "that stuff." What do you think, Kirsten?