Naomie Harris was groped by Hollywood star

Naomie Harris had to fight off the unwanted attentions of a major Hollywood star who groped her as a young actress.

The James Bond star has been reticent about talking about her experiences in the film industry, but opened up to The Guardian newspaper about one awful experience she had with a famous actor when she was in her 20s.

"I was in an audition and he put his hand up my skirt," she explains, while declining to name the perpetrator. "What was so shocking about it was the casting director was there and the director, and of course no one said anything at all because he was - he is - such a huge star."

The 43-year-old star is thankful that the Time's Up movement is now encouraging women to speak up about misconduct in the wake of the 2017 scandal surrounding movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Multiple actresses accused Weinstein of harassment and sexual assault. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex but is facing charges including rape and sexual assault.

Harris cited Time's Up as having caused a "massive shift" in how actresses are treated in the movie industry.

"Men know that they absolutely cannot get away with things now that they wouldn't even have thought about before," she added.

She also revealed she thought her intelligence and education at Cambridge University protected her from further assaults during her Hollywood career.

"I think there is the immediate assumption that you have a brain," she shared.