- Jessica Biel has been cast as the wife of the late Hugh Hefner in the film Playmates.
- Hefner’s widow, Crystal Harris, asked him to reconsider his role, which is fictional.
- Since Hefner’s death, Harris has opened up about the many ways her life in the Playboy mansion negatively affected her.
Former reality TV actress Crystal Harris asks actress Jessica Biel to reconsider her former role as her late wife. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
Biel is expected to play the role in the film Playmates, Variety reported this week.
THE 7th heaven The actress will not specifically portray Harris or any of Hefner’s love interests, but rather a fictional character, the outlet noted.
Crystal Harris/Instagram
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Harris was married to Hefner from 2012 until his death on September 27, 2017. He was 91 years old.
“Please reconsider the role of Hugh Hefner’s ‘wife’ if this film intends to romanticize him or Playboy world,” Harris posted. “I was actually his wife and suffered sexual, emotional, financial and physical abuse in that relationship. Many other women have also filed complaints of rape, coercion, drugs and exploitation. There are also deeply troubling concerns regarding minors. I hope everyone involved with this film takes the time to listen to the women who lived it before helping Hollywood turn it into nostalgia again.
Entertainment Weekly has contacted representatives for Biel and Searchlight for comment.
As announced, Playmates starring Bill Pullman as Hefner, alongside Lily-Rose Depp and Indiana Elle. Lorraine Nicholson will write and direct.
It’s the story of 13-year-old Elle (played by Elle), described as “a 13-year-old know-it-all who considers the Playboy mansion her second home”, meeting Depp’s character Anna, who is one of seven girls competing to be named Playmate of the Month. The two become friends.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Harris, the former reality TV star The girls next doorwhich depicted life in the famous mansion, has spoken since Hefner’s death about her experience as a 23-year-old marrying the then-86-year-old publishing mogul. Harris said she was “absolutely brainwashed.”
“Hef was old enough to be my grandfather,” she said in September on the Nobody asked him podcast. “We were 60 years apart. In interviews, I would say, ‘Oh, you know, he’s like a kid! He likes to have fun.'”
Reconsidering her thinking, Harris said she now asks herself, “Why did I say that? »
The author of the 2024 memoir, Say Only Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myselfalso said she regretted marrying the media mogul.
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