Filming a movie like "The Accused" was no easy task. The two leading ladies, Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, both had emotional and mental investments in the movie. Jodie Foster (playing the lead character of Sarah Tobias) attended Rape Support Groups and read rape stories to prepare her for the role. (IMDB)
Kelly McGillis (the woman who played Kathyn) was orginally offered the role of Sarah Tobias, but choose to fight instead for the role of the attorney. This was because of an experience that she had being sexually assulted.
[Jodie Foster On preparing for the role] "Well being 25 and horribly afraid of the film, really of what I knew I'd have to go through, I just decided not to think about it. So I showed up for rehearsals and I did meet up with a few rape counselors. But I realized I had never read the script again. I'd only read it once. And uh, really in that character role all I needed to know was this kernel of who she was... and to live the film. And that really told me what I needed to know."
[On filming the rape scene] "The actual rape scene... all of it I didn't remember. I blacked out. I would go from one part of the scene to the next part of the scene. And I wouldnt... I didn't remember. I remembered 'cuts' and I remembered 'action', but I wouldnt remember anything in between."
The Accused: The Movie