Susan Sarandon has been acting for more than four decades. She's won an Oscar, been nominated for five Emmys and is an outspoken social and political activist. But Sarandon recently revealed that she is also a survivor of sexual assault.

In the November 2012 issue of Elle magazine (via Radar), Sarandon opened up about the assault, which took place in her early acting years.

"It was not successful -- for either of us," Sarandon told Elle. "I just went into a room, and a guy practically threw me on the desk. It was my early days in New York, and it was really disgusting. It wasn't like I gave it a second thought, it was so badly done."

The actress wouldn't reveal what she was auditioning for in that instance.

In 2010, Sarandon launched a worldwide petition to lobby state governments for "Safe Harbor" laws that protect victims of sex trafficking. "I choose very carefully the groups I talk about," Sarandon told the Wall Street Journal at the time. "We need to put a face to this issue in order to take the problem from abstract to specific."

Sarandon stars in the upcoming "Cloud Atlas" (out Oct. 26) and recently told "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," "It's a wonderful movie about how everyone is connected. It's a major, major epic movie with epic ideas for grown ups."

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  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugh Grant & Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugo Weaving

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    James D'Arcy & Ben Whishaw

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    David Gyasi

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry & Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry & Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Doona Bae & Xun Zhou

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugo Weaving & Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Author David Mitchell <strong>CORRECTION</strong>: An earlier version of this slide identified Mitchell as director Tom Tykwer.

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Doona Bae & Jim Sturgess

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Doona Bae & Jim Sturgess

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Doona Bae

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Xun Zhou & Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent & cast.

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Sturgess

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Ben Whishaw & Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Ben Whishaw

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Doona Bae

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Sturgess & Hugo Weaving

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent and cast

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Xun Zhou and Doona Bae

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Ben Whishaw

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    James D'Arcy

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugh Grant

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry & Keith David

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    David Gyasi & Jim Sturgess

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Tom Hanks, Jim Sturgess & Jim Broadbent

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Susan Sarandon

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Halle Berry

  • 'Cloud Atlas

    David Gyasi

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Susan Sarandon & Tom Hanks

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Jim Broadbent & Ben Whishaw

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugo Weaving

  • 'Cloud Atlas'

    Hugo Weaving & Jim Strugess

Earlier on HuffPost: