Portia de Rossi has claimed Steven Seagal once "unzipped his leather pants" when she was auditioning for one of his movies.

Portia de Rossi (right) with wife Ellen DeGeneres

Portia de Rossi (right) with wife Ellen DeGeneres

The 44-year-old actress alleged the 65-year-old star told her it was important to have "off-screen chemistry" before undoing his trousers in his office, and she ran out of the audition.

She wrote on Twitter: "My final audition for a Steven Segal movie took place in his office. He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, "well, I didn't know if he was your type." (sic)"

Portia's wife Ellen DeGeneres took to Twitter to share her claims, and admit she is "proud" of the 'Arrested Development' star.

She wrote: "I'm proud of my wife."

Portia's claims come just a few days after Julianna Margulies recalled a "horrific" encounter with an armed Steven in his hotel room once.

The 51-year-old star had been told by a female casting director that Steven wanted to go over a scene in his hotel room late at night, and that she would be there, too, only to find him alone when she got there.

Julianna - who appeared alongside the veteran actor in 1991 film 'Out for Justice' - claimed: "When I was 23, a casting director, a woman, said, 'Steven Seagal wants to go over the scene with you in his hotel room at 10 o'clock at night.'

"I lived in Brooklyn, and I said, 'Oh, I don't do that. I don't travel. I don't have money for a cab.' And I didn't. And I said, 'And I don't take subways late at night.' And she says, 'Don't worry we'll reimburse you. And I'm here, a woman.'

"I got to the hotel at 10:40, and she wasn't there. And he was. Alone. And he made sure that I saw his gun, which I had never seen a gun in real life. And I got out of there unscathed."