Grace Van Dien is a talented actress and a popular streamer on Twitch. She’s best known for her role as Chrissy Cunningham on Stranger Things, but she’s also appeared in a number of movies, including What Comes Around and V For Vengeance. However, in a recent stream, she revealed that she’s decided to turn down acting projects in favor of streaming more due to experiences with sexual harassment in the film industry.
Choosing Who to Work With
Van Dien explained that on her recent acting projects, she didn’t have the best experiences with some of the people she had to work for. In contrast, with streaming, she gets to choose who she hangs out with and who she talks to. While Twitch can be a dangerous platform for female streamers, content creators on the video platform aren’t required to have a boss.
The Dangers of Streaming for Women
Unfortunately, women on Twitch are vulnerable to harassment, stalking, and doxxing. Many female streamers have reported receiving unwanted attention and even threats while streaming. It’s a sad reality of the video game industry, but Van Dien has found a way to mitigate some of these dangers by streaming instead of acting.
A Bad Experience on Set
Van Dien spoke about a particularly bad experience she had on set with an unscrupulous manager. “One of the last movies I did, one of the producers asked me to…he hired a girl who he was sleeping with and had her ask me to have a threesome with them,” she said. “So that’s my boss. And I didn’t. I cried, and I was so upset.” Although she didn’t specify the movie, she has recently starred in The Fix, Aaah! Roach!, What Comes Around, and V For Vengeance.
Waiting for the Right Opportunity
Van Dien’s agency was contacted by Kotaku but did not provide a comment. However, she did tweet yesterday that her “work priorities are changing” and that she’s “waiting for the right project” and “the right people to work with.” As a popular actress who’s starred in a Netflix production that’s been viewed over a billion hours, she certainly has options.
Conclusion
It’s unfortunate that Van Dien has experienced sexual harassment in the film industry, but it’s inspiring to see her take control of her career and choose to stream instead. By doing so, she’s able to choose who she works with and mitigate some of the dangers that come with being a woman on Twitch. As she waits for the right project and the right people to work with, we can only hope that more women are empowered to take control of their careers and challenge the toxic culture of the entertainment industry.