Whitney Cummings Says Francis Ford Coppola Gifted Her Wine and a Signed Book After BombingMegalopolisAudition: 'So Embarrassed'

Mar. 15, 2025

Whitney Cummings and Adam Driver’s character in Megalopolis.Photo:Courtesy of Lionsgate; Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Courtesy of Lionsgate; Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Whitney Cummings' audition forMegalopoliswas odd enough that she thought she was onPunk’d.

Cummings, 42, recalled meetingFrancis Ford Coppolaand auditioning for his most recent movie on the Dec. 7 episode of herGood For Youpodcast. A clip that included her anecdote began circulating onTikTokwhen she shared it to the platform on Monday, Dec. 16.

When Cummings' guestGrace Weissendasked her if she ever sawMegalopoliswhen it released in theaters in September, the comedian and actor joked that auditioning for the movie was “such a core trauma for me” and expressed surprise the movie actually released. “I will tell this story - I don’t even care,” Cummings said, recalling that she memorized “a couple of pages” days in advance to prepare to audition for five-timeOscarwinner Coppola, 85.

Cummings added that Coppola asked her to perform further accent work on the spot as she began pantomiming herself looking for hidden cameras during the audition. “Literally, because I did the showPunk’d, I literally was like, ‘If I’m beingPunk’d,this is genius, this is actually genius,’ " she said. “Because I disassociated the entire thing.”

Representatives for Coppola did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Adam Driver in ‘Megalopolis’.Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Cummings admitted during the podcast that she felt Coppola’s approach to the audition was unfair for not running the scenes she prepared to read and that she was asked to improvise with Coppola himself.“He’s like, ‘Let’s improvise around the scene,’ but I’m improvising with him and he’s Francis Ford Coppola,” she said. “He can make an amazing movie. I’m sure he’s improvised on set a lot, but he’s not yes and’ing. I’m yes and’ing, and I’m like, ‘Look, this guy’s got Oscars, but not for improvising.’ "

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Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel in ‘Megalopolis’.American Zoetrope / Megalopolis / Mihai Malaimare

American Zoetrope / Megalopolis / Mihai Malaimare

“It was just so humiliating and so confounding. In that moment, I was like, ‘I thought I understood how this business worked in some capacity,’ " she said. “I would do anything to get a copy of that just to get my reaction when he was like, ‘And your son is going to war, English accent.’ It might have been before I stopped getting Botox so maybe it was just like one crocodile tear, but I just remember looking up [for Ashton Kutcher hostingPunk’d.]”

MegalopolisstarredAdam DriverandNathalie Emmanuelamong a large ensemble cast; actors like Emmanuel, 35, toldThe Hollywood Reporterin May that their audition and rehearsal process for the movie also included improvisation and theater-style games.

“This is the first time I truly thought, ‘I’m beingPunk’dand this is like, perfect,’ " Cummings recalled on her podcast. “If someone can get me to do an English accent in front of Francis Ford Coppola, that is so funny. That is so funny to me.”

source: people.com