Whitney Cummings Recalls ‘Humiliating’ Audition for Francis Ford Coppola

Whitney Cummings spent three days memorizing lines only to be asked to improvise an Australian-accented confrontation with an imaginary sister-stealing husband. The comedian has revealed her bizarre audition experience for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis was so strange that she thought she might be getting pranked for television. “This was such a core trauma for me,” the 42-year-old comedian shared on her Good For You podcast.

The surreal experience began with a lengthy preparation process. “I’m working on it for days, obviously,” she recalled. “Because it’s Francis Ford Coppola.” This was followed by “three-and-a-half hours” in hair and makeup, where she received “jheri curls on my forehead that were glued down” and a gold crown. However, the real confusion started when she entered the audition room.

“Everyone is so quiet. There’s no vibe of, ‘We’re at an audition. Hey, what’s up? Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you,’” Cummings recalled. “It’s just so awkward. I go in, I’m like, ‘So, where do you want to start first?’ And he’s, like, ‘Oh no, no, we’re not going to do the scene.’ I was like, ‘OK, It’s three days of my life.’”

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Horror audition story for Megalopolis 🤦🏻‍♀️

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The improvisation demands became increasingly bizarre, with the 85-year-old director throwing unexpected scenarios at her. “‘In an English accent, say goodbye to your son going to war. Go,’” Cummings quoted Coppola. “‘Now your husband is leaving you for your sister. Australian accent. Go!’” Having previously appeared on MTV’s Punk’d, Cummings found herself wondering if she was being filmed for a similar prank show.

“I am improvising my head off to just nothing,” she said. “Why am I acting with him? He’s, like, ‘It’s going to be me, and we’re going to improvise the scene.’ I’m, like, ‘But you don’t [improvise].’ Has anyone ever told you the truth since Apocalypse Now? Right? Has anyone told you the truth? No.”

“I started glazing over, and then he was, like, ‘That was great.’ I don’t know where I went. I just completely disassociated,” Cummings added. The awkwardness reached its peak after the audition concluded. “He signed it in front of me as if I had shown up to an autograph signing as if I wanted [it],” Cummings said of receiving a signed copy of Coppola’s book.

The director then added a bottle of his branded wine, with Cummings noting he gave it to her “like, ‘you’ll need this.’” She described the experience as “just so humiliating — that’s the only [word] — and so confounding in that moment.”

The experience seems particularly surreal given Coppola’s legendary status in Hollywood. The director spent decades trying to bring Megalopolis to the screen, ultimately self-funding the $120 million production. The film features an all-star cast including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, and Dustin Hoffman.

Despite the impressive ensemble, the film has struggled commercially, earning just over $13 million worldwide. Critics have been divided on the final result. Claims of chaos on set have further added to the film’s troubled narrative.