SYDNEY (AP) — Award-winning actress Judy Davis has told a court that she had heard talk in the film industry that Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush's career was finished after he was accused of inappropriate behavior toward a female co-star in a Sydney stage play.

Rush is suing the publisher of Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper and its journalist, Jonathon Moran, in the Federal Court for defamation over articles published in November that accused the 67-year-old Australian actor of behaving inappropriately toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill during the Sydney Theatre Company's production of "King Lear" in 2015 and 2016.

Davis told the court on Monday that Rush had a "very serious heavyweight reputation" as an actor before the articles.

Davis said she had loved working with Rush, who had had a "very fine reputation."