Bryan Singer’s 2000 movie X-Men starring an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen was a pioneer in the superhero genre. Released even before Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, the movie is credited to be the first major Marvel adaptation to reach mainstream audiences. However, behind the action-packed movie, its production was packed with chaos, largely attributed to the problematic behavior of the director.
It included everything from substance abuse to late arrivals, mood swings, and throwing tantrums on the set. Fed up with his constant behavior Berry, who played Storm in the X-Men movies, took the stand and called out the filmmaker voicing concerns about his well-being and the safety of the cast and crew.
Halle Berry Spoke Up Against X-Men Director
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bryan Singer and his producer, Tom DeSanto, got into an altercation after he attempted to halt the filming. DeSanto reportedly made the suggestion after learning that Singer, along with some other crew members, had been incapacitated after taking a narcotic and was concerned about the cast’s safety.
However, Singer denied it and continued, causing Hugh Jackman to bleed on camera. After this, producer Ralph Winter stopped the production. However, the next day, the studio sided with Singer and told DeSanto to return to Los Angeles.
It was followed by the cast of the film, excluding Ian McKellen and Rebecca Romijn, going to the director’s trailer and threatening to quit the movie if DeSanto left. Alan Cumming, who starred as Nightcrawler in the 2003 film, recalled the incident in his 2018 book Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life.
He shared that they went into his trailer and shared their concern regarding his well-being and the cast’s safety. However, the Valkyrie director bombarded them with criticism, saying that “none of [them] had ever made a decent film” and were lucky to work with him.
“I’ve heard enough,” Halle Berry responded to the filmmaker’s comments (as per Page Six) before adding, “You can kiss my black a**.” When asked about the same, a representative for the X-Men director denied the claims, saying, “Nothing like that ever happened.” However, the actress has been quite open about her on-set dispute with the director.
Halle Berry Opened Up About Her Conflicts With Bryan Singer
X-Men actress Halle Berry opened up about her experience working with the filmmaker during an interview with Variety. She shared that the controversial filmmaker is not the easiest person to work with, as she admitted having on-set disputes with him. She said,
“I would sometimes be very angry with him. I got into a few fights with him, said a few cuss words out of sheer frustration. When I work, I’m serious about that. And when that gets compromised, I get a little nutty.”
Berry further stated that although they had their issues, she had a lot of “compassion for people who are struggling with” something, and Singer was also struggling with it at the time. Cumming has also stated in his book that the Catwoman actress “spoke movingly of people she had known with drug issues.”
Apart from his problematic behavior on the X-Men set, Bryan Singer has also been accused of s*xual misconduct by a number of underage men. However, he has denied any wrongdoing.
X2 is available on Disney+.
