Halle Berry appears as Storm in X-Men: The Last Stand, and of course, her presence as one of the original mutants helps make the experience of watching the film a little more bearable. However, there was a point where the Academy Award winner hadn’t even signed her contract to be part of the production. So how did Fox executives convince her to rejoin the team? With a deception.
This was revealed by Matthew Vaughn at the most recent edition of the New York Comic Con (via The Hollywood Reporter). The director, known for wearing Kick Ass and kingsman to the big screen, he dedicated a few minutes of his panel to talking about his experience working on superhero projects. It was then that he confessed that he was already prepared to direct X3but there was something that took him away from the film: he realized A fake scene was added to Berry’s script. designed solely for the purpose of forcing her to sign and specify her participation. This is what Vaughn said:
«I walked into one of the executives’ office and saw a script for X3, and I immediately knew it was much fatter. I said, ‘What the hell is this draft?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry,’ and I said, ‘No, no. I am the director. I do worry about this draft.’”
From that moment, the director knew that things were bad. He took the draft and watched the aforementioned scene, which was not in the original iteration. It turns out it was a scene that Halle Berry had fought for, although it ultimately wouldn’t make it into the finished film. Vaughn recalled the following:
«He didn’t tell me, so I took it literally – it was like a moment of madness – I opened the first page and it said: ‘Africa. Storm. Children dying due to lack of water. She creates a storm and saves all those children.’
For Vaughn, this was a good idea. But when he realized what the real plan was, he knew he didn’t want to be part of the film.
I asked, ‘What is this?’ [Me respondieron]: ‘It’s Halle Berry’s script.’ And I said, ‘Good, because she hasn’t signed yet.’”
To this, the executive responded: “But this is what she wants it to be, and Once you sign, we’ll throw it in the trash.«.
The director couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That’s why he made the decision to abandon the project, because he was not willing to treat a great actress like that: “I said: ‘Wow, you’re going to do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm?’ I am going out of here’. So I left it at that moment.
Eventually, Vaughn returned to the director’s chair on the mutant saga with X Men First generation. Fortunately, nothing bad happened – as far as we know –. But the question remains: Will Halle Berry remember this incident in the production of The final battle and will you have anything to say about it?
José Roberto Landaverde I am fascinated by writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to cinema. I love music and I am a fan of The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Paramore. My favorite movies are Rocky and Back to the Future and obviously one day I will climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that cinema is the best teleporting machine, and also that on the big screen we can all see ourselves represented.