'Mudbound' Actress Lucy Faust Says She Was Sexually Harassed by Hollywood Director Early in Career (Exclusive)

Faust told TooFab about an alleged incident that happened early in her career while attending the AFI Fest premiere of her latest film, "Mudbound," in Los Angeles on Thursday.

"I was involved in a film a long time ago and the director wanted me to do something, just dress a certain way and act a certain way for this scene," she said. "I was just starting out and I said, 'You know this is not what I signed up for,' and I said, 'I'm not going to do it.'"

"The sense of shame that filled me at the thought of doing this, I thought you know, I don't want to do this, so I told him that and I'm still shaking talking about it," Faust continued. "My heart was pounding. I called my then-boyfriend and said, 'I need you to come pick me up' and they said, 'You're making a big mistake.'"

Faust said she ignored the threat from the filmmaker she didn't name in her conversation with TooFab, and now has 25 acting credits to her name, including TV series "Salem," "Zoo" and "American Horror Story." In "Mudbound," a drama about racism men face while working on a Mississippi farm after returning from World War II, Faust's co-stars include Carey Mulligan, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Garrett Hedlund and Jason Clarke.

Looks like she didn't make a mistake, after all.

"That was years ago and I don't even think about it anymore," she said. "I think that, you know, the fact that somebody feels the need to bully someone who is young and starting out... red flags for you as a person."

Faust hopes that sharing her story will help young actresses who may be experiencing a similar situation, because Faust thinks it's "sad" how some men will use their power to gain pleasure for themselves.

"I know it's scary," she said. "But you have so much support behind you, just do it. Walk off that set, walk away from that situation, your life, your career, your worth does not depend on any man. It depends on nobody but you and you are not going to be ruined if it will make somebody else happy. That's not the way life works."

As for what this means for women moving forward, Faust believes America is almost at a point in time where women could be considered equals with men.

"I don't think it's pushing us back. I think if anything it is paving the way to let us move forward because I think that it is casting a light on the more negative aspects of how things have gone and I think if that sense of power and suppression is called out and recognized and hopefully obliterated then that will let us be equals in this business."

"We're stronger," she added. "People are not as afraid, and I think we were afraid earlier in time, but now we're gaining a voice and we're gaining strength."