An Australian actress has revealed that Hollywood producers asked her to cut off a birthmark on her face before she could star alongside heavyweight Bruce Willis.
Radha Mitchell, 50, first rose to fame on Neighbors before making it big in the US, starring alongside big names such as Vin Diesel, Nicholas Cage and Denzel Washington.
But when she landed a role alongside 69-year-old Bruce in the 2009 film Surrogates, Radha said Jess Rowe’s big talk show Wednesday that a large wig demanded she remove a mole from her cheek.
“Looking back when you were younger, I think one of the directors told you to get your birthmark removed?” host Jessica Rowe questioned the former soap star.
‘Yes, how can they suggest something like that… vandalism. I mean, that’s how I saw it,” she replied.
‘There was a lot of discussion because I was going to play a robot and a robot wouldn’t have a mole. So there was a lot of talking.’
Radha went on to say that even her mother told her to “just cut it off” so that she could get the chance to star alongside Bruce Willis in the sci-fi action film.
“So the compromise was, OK, you could shave it off, but leave the base there,” the veteran actress added.
Australian actress Radha Mitchell, 50, (left) has revealed that Hollywood producers asked her to cut off a birthmark on her face before she could star alongside heavyweight Bruce Willis, 69, (right)
Radha said the make-up artists on set then ‘airbrushed’ her to give the impression of a perfect robot so that her birthmark was not visible in the film.
The former soap star first rose to fame in the mid-1990s when she played the role of Catherine O’Brien on Neighbors from 1996 to 1997.
Radha then flew to Hollywood in search of fame, landing several supporting and leading gigs during her career.
Radha said that when she landed a role opposite Bruce in the 2009 film Surrogates, a big wig required her to remove a mole that is barely visible on her cheek below her eye.
She starred in the cult classic Pitch Black as well as Man on Fire, Finding Neverland and Silent Hill, and even made a brief return to Aussie TV for ABC Television’s Troppo.
Her career spans decades with work in many genres, including action, sci-fi and thriller.
The Melbourne native has received an FCCA Award, as well as nominations for AFI and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Radha keeps her personal life very private and her only public relationship was with New Zealand actor Martin Henderson from 2005 to 2006.
‘Yes, how can they suggest something like that… Vandalism. I mean, that’s how I saw it,” Radha said on the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show