[Editor’s Note: The following article includes discussions of sexual harassment and assault. Because of the sensitive nature of their experiences and fears of retaliation, sources for this story have requested anonymity. With their permission, we’ve replaced sources’ names with pseudonyms. All pseudonyms have been marked with an asterisk on first reference.]
While it’s been almost a decade since Lily* worked as a day player on the Portland set of the television show Leverage, the darker memories of her time on the job have yet to fade. That includes the on-set sexual harassment she and other women workers say they endured, and an alleged sexual assault by a prominent actor on the TV series.
“It comes up for me on a regular basis,” Lily, who still works in the local production industry, said of the 2013 incident. “That’s my story.”
This isn’t only Lily’s story. Four other women spoke with the Mercury about their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse from actors, as well as high-level crew, while working under the production company that oversaw Leverage and another series, The Librarians, in Portland between 2009 and 2017. These experiences illuminate the systemic problems stemming from a lack of accountability and support for workers on production sets who face harassment by those in positions of power. The stories reveal how in Portland, and other smaller urban areas that have become thriving areas for film and TV production, set workers can find it uniquely challenging to protect themselves from workplace harassment and retaliation.