Francis Ford Coppola Denies Claim That He Directed Keanu Reeves to Verbally Abuse Winona Ryder

Francis Ford Coppola has denied Winona Ryder’s claim that he instructed her male costars to shout insults at her during the filming of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, which was published earlier this week, the actress, 48, recalled shooting a scene for the 1992 film where she was “supposed to be crying.” She claimed that in order to make her cry more, Coppola, 81, began shouting insults at her, including “you whore!,” and called on her male costars to follow suit, a claim which Coppola has denied.

“While I think Winona is a wonderful actor, the incident she described is not how it happened, and shouting or abusing people isn’t something I do as a person or as a filmmaker,” the director told PEOPLE in a statement.

“In this situation, which I remember clearly, I instructed Gary Oldman—in character as Dracula—to whisper improvised words to her and the other characters, making them as horrific and evil as he could. I don’t know what was said, but improvisation is a common filmmaking practice,” Coppola said.

Reps for Oldman and Ryder did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

RELATED: Winona Ryder Says Keanu Reeves Refused Direction to Verbally Abuse Her on Dracula Set

While recounting the experience in The Sunday Times interview, the Stranger Things star said her costars refused the alleged direction.

“Literally, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu [Reeves] … Francis was trying to get all of them to yell things that would make me cry, but Keanu wouldn’t, Anthony wouldn’t. ... It just didn’t work,” she said. "I was, like, really? It kind of did the opposite."

Ryder went on to say that she and the Godfather trilogy director are “good now.”

In the interview, Ryder also said that the experience led to her lasting friendship with Reeves.

Besides staying close off screen, the pair have gone on to work together again in 2006's A Scanner Darkly, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) as well as the 2018 film Destination Wedding.

“Winona is a lovely person and a talented actress,” Reeves, 55, previously told PEOPLE. “I think we make a good couple.”