Frank Langella Under Investigation at Netflix for Sexual Harassment While Filming Fall of the House of Usher

Actor Frank Langella is under investigation at Netflix for an alleged act of sexual harassment while filming Mike Flanagan’s (Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) upcoming miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher (based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story). According to a source close to the production, Langella is facing allegations of “inappropriate conduct” while on set; there’s a formal investigation into the incident underway, though it is noted that Langella has not been fired or suspended from the production. 

In terms of what specific allegations Frank Langella is facing, TMZ reports that “a source close to production tells us the 84-year-old actor allegedly made an inappropriate joke that was sexual in nature. Our sources also say in the context of his performance, possibly during rehearsal, he touched the leg of a female costar, and further drew attention to the action when he jokingly said something like “Did you like that?”

The Fall of the House of Usher is filming in British Columbia, Canada, and Frank Langella will be playing the titular patriarch, Roderick Usher, in the show. There is no current indication that the incident and resulting investigation will affect the production timeline in any way. Neither Netflix nor representatives for Frank Langella were willing to comment.

The Fall of the House of Usher will also star JayR Tinaco (Another Life, Space Force), Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher), Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game), Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Kate Siegel (Haunting of Hill House), Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) as Madeline Usher, Zach Gilford (The Purge: Anarchy), Paola Nuñez (Bad Boys For Life), Annabeth Gish (Midnight Mass), Malcolm Goodwin (Reacher), Rahul Kohli (iZombie), Samantha Sloyan (Midnight Mass), and Robert Longstreet (Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass). 

No word on which cast member made the allegation against Frank Langella. Hollywood has undergone a significant transformation in terms of policy and procedure for productions. In addition to all the new COVID-19 safety procedures, the Me Too Movement opened the door for actors and crew members to have a much clearer pathway of support for addressing any incidents of offensive behavior and/or harassment. We’ll have to see what the investigation into this latest incident with Frank Langella turns up. 

Here’s the synopsis for The Fall of the House of Usher, which is set to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2022: 

A man who has been invited to visit his childhood friend Roderick Usher. Usher gradually makes clear that his twin sister Madeline has been placed in the family vault not quite dead. When she reappears in her blood-stained shroud, the visitor rushes to leave as the entire house splits and sinks into a lake.