Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress in the anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims , is suing producer Nakoula Basseley Nakoula — aka Sam Bacile –, TMZ reports .
Garcia filed the lawsuit in LA County Superior Court Wednesday. She said she was tricked into acting in the movie, which she believed to be a “historical Arabian desert adventure film.” Garcia said the movie was changed to make it seem like she had “voluntarily performed in a hateful anti-Islamic production.” The actress also said her voice was dubbed to include lines against the prophet Muhammed.
Garcia said she never saw a full script for the film, and that her lines were performed in front of a green screen. She said she never would have been involved if she knew what Nakoula was actually going to produce.
The 55-year-old said the backlash from the film has turned violent.
“I’m getting horrible death threats over the Internet, people saying they’re going to cut me up, chop me up and kill me and my family,” she said. She has called the FBI to report the threats, but they haven’t returned her messages. One post on her Facebook page said she was lucky the poster couldn’t get a hold of her. “Otherwise I would have cut your head no matter what your country or lawmakers would have done to me,” the man wrote.
The actress said she is now using an assumed name now, and that her family is hysterical over the threats.
Cindy Lee Garcia is also suing Google and YouTube, and demanding that the court order the companies to remove the film from their servers, although they have already refused to do so . She is seeking unspecified damages from all three parties.