Actress Jena Malone has opened up about being sexually assaulted on the set of The Hunger Games in a candid post.
The 38-year-old played Johanna Mason in the dystopian-set film series, which ran from 2012 to 2015.
Malone has shared in a post that she was sexually assaulted during filming and kept the identity of the alleged attacker hidden, adding that she’s “worked very hard to heal”.
The actress discussed the traumatic experience as she posted a throwback photo of herself in a French field on Instagram, taken shortly after filming the Hunger Games films.
Malone captioned: “This photo was taken right after I wrapped Mockingjay Part Two and I had to say goodbye to everyone on set.
“We were shooting in a beautiful estate in the countryside of France and I asked the driver to let me out in this field so I could cry and capture this moment.
“Even though this time in Paris was extremely hard for me, I was going thru a bad break up and also was sexually assaulted by someone I had worked with, I was so full of gratitude for this project, the people I became close with and this amazing part I got to play.”
Malone said she has “a swirling mix of emotions” that she is still “learning to sort through”, and shared that she’s found it “hard” to talk about The Hunger Games ever since.
She continued: “I wish it wasn’t tied to such a traumatic event for me but that is the real wildness of life I guess. How to hold the chaos with the beauty.
“I’ve worked very hard to heal and learn thru restorative justice, how to make peace with the person who violated me and make peace with myself.
“It’s been hard to talk about The Hunger Games and Johanna Mason without feeling the sharpness of this moment, but I’m ready to move thru it and reclaim the joy and accomplishment I felt.”
Malone went on to share support for fellow survivors as she urged those who wished to talk to share their experiences in the comment section.
In response to one comment that stated the perpetrator “got away” with their crimes, Malone replied: “That’s not true. I used restorative justice to allow healing and accountability and growth with the other person”.
The actress shared that she didn’t name the alleged assailant as she shared her disagreements with the criminal justice system, and does not see how imprisonment of the attacker “could fully repair my healing”.
Malone previously starred in 1990s films Stepmom and Contact, before appearing in both independent and major movie projects years later, such as Donnie Darko, Inherent Vice and Antebellum.
