Woody AllenandMia Farrow’s relationship and the aftermath of their explosive split was dissected in HBO’s acclaimed docuseriesAllen v. Farrow, which concluded its four-episode run on Sunday.
Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Mia and then-boyfriend Allen, also featured prominently in the series, accusing Allen of sexually abusing her as a child. The director has long denied the allegation, which was first reported during his explosive 1992 split from Mia. Allen was not charged, though a Connecticut prosecutor said there was probable cause for a criminal case.
Below, Dick, Ziering and Herdy reveal how they got Dylan and Mia to participate in the series, and respond to Allen and Soon-Yislammingthe documentary as “a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.”
Mia Farrow and Woody Allen.ARNAL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty
PEOPLE: What was the process like of getting Dylan on board with the making of the series?
Amy Herdy:She made a point of letting me know that she was going to be watching our previous films and weighing her decision carefully. And Ronan [Farrow], her brother, advised her not to do the interview because he was worried that it would just bring up a lot of trauma for her and make her life more difficult, and that participating in a documentary would lead her open to attack again from all the haters that were out there, the trolls. He didn’t want her life to be more difficult. So, we were up against a lot, and it took her several weeks to decide.
Was getting Mia to participate less difficult?
Amy Herdy:With Mia, that was a very different experience because it took several months to convince Mia to do an interview. And really, Mia only did the interview and made it very clear that she only did an interview because her daughter asked her to.
How was interviewing Mia?
Amy Ziering:It was extremely hard. It was hard on her, and it was complicated for all of us. At first she was like, “No, absolutely not. I’m not going to be in the documentary. I’ll support it, and you can look at my own videos, and I will answer questions privately, but I’m not going to go on camera.”
After a very long time and process, Dylan said, “Please, Mom. I think this will be okay, and I think that your testimony will really help shed light on mine, and would you do this as a favor for me?”
Mia showed up, but it was not something she at all, even when she was showed up, was eager to do. We always ask people to bring a change of several different wardrobe items so we can just see how they look in the environment, and she came with nothing. She brought no wardrobe, and she was wearing a black sweatshirt, and that wasn’t ideal. I thought that was interesting, that that’s someone who really is consciously and unconsciously signaling that this isn’t something they’re really terribly comfortable or eager to be doing. So, I ended up giving her my blouse and doing the interview borrowing a t-shirt from a crew member and doing the interview.
Mia Farrow; Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn.getty images
What did Mia and Dylan make of the series when they sat down to watch it?
Amy Ziering:When it was finished and fully realized, which is very close to the end of our process, we always show it to the principals, and we did the same in this case. They all responded. They just said, “Okay,” and that was that.
When we offered for Mia to watch this series, she didn’t want to see it at first. She was just like, “I trust your process from what I’ve seen. You have integrity.” But from what I understand, she was very gratified with how the true story was represented and the facts were relayed.
Amy Ziering:We gave him two weeks to just start the discussion of when we could and should start filming, so it’s a little bit of a misrepresentation to say he was only given two weeks. If he had responded affirmatively, we would have adjusted all schedules accordingly and done everything to talk with him, and would have really, really welcomed that.
We reached out to him again multiple times to see if he wanted to speak with us, and we would have adjusted our production schedule accordingly, if he’d asked.
Soon-Yi Previn and Woody Allen (L); Dylan and Mia Farrow.Walter McBride/Getty Images;
Does their statement surprise you?
Amy Ziering:This series is based on documents and facts, records that are irrefutable. To allege that it is rife with errors, I would love to see what he thinks are errors because it’s based on facts, and documents, and police reports.
Amy Herdy:… And corroborated testimony. And so, I think if you’re going to call something a hatchet job, you should watch all four episodes and come back with specifics, which we’d welcome hearing.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
