Debra Messing, the American actress best known for her role in the television series “Will & Grace,” spoke at the MAKERS conference in California, recalling her first experience shooting a Hollywood film in 1995, “A Walk in the Clouds.”

Messing was cast at age 25 in the movie, which starred Keanu Reeves and was directed by Alfonso Arau.

During her retelling of the experience, she mentioned how the rampant misogyny that has plagued the film industry for decades was very much present on set.

Messing described Arau as an “*ss-hat” director who subjected her to a series of humiliations over her body, despite being a highly trained actress fresh out of a master’s program and dedicated to a career in film.

The most disturbing of these incidents came when the director and male producers surprised Messing with plans to shoot a nud scene she hadn’t agreed to do.

Messing’s agent told her that refusing would likely get her fired.

When she asked the director for an explanation, he berated her, allegedly saying, “Your job is to get nkd and to say the lines. That’s it,” before shooing her away.

Messing recalled how body makeup was applied for the scene, but Arau decided he needed to “set” the single sheet covering her on the bed.

After he lifted the sheet and scanned her nkd body, he dropped it on top of her “like a used Kleenex” and walked away without a word.

During shooting, the director walked around her mostly nude body instructing her to cover up her “nipple” or “ass.”

The only part of her unclothed body on view in the film is her back.

According to Messing, the whole thing was a power play, a game, and the goal was to demean her, strip her of her power and make her feel the director’s dominance over her on a cellular level.

She stated, “The whole thing was about exerting control over me.”

Before the nude scene, trouble on the “Walk in the Clouds” set had already started during a kiss scene between Messing and Reeves.

Arau allegedly shouted out, “How quickly can we get a plastic surgeon in here? Her nose is ruining my movie!”

Messing recalled feeling “frozen, horrified, mortified” during the awkward moment on set.

The actress said she “felt deep shame” for her Jewish heritage, remembering anti-Semitic incidents from her childhood in a community without Jewish people.

“A Walk in the Clouds” was not the only time Messing faced misogyny in her career.

When she was cast in the NBC sitcom “Will & Grace,” the show embraced her small-breasted body only after she questioned needing to wear chicken cutlets in her bra.

Evidently, the bra-stuffing request had come from an NBC executive who declined to explain himself.

Messing decided to pursue theater and TV projects instead of film from then on. In conclusion, she said, “Success out of truth. This is who I am.”