Halle Berry Was Tricked Into ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ Role, Filmmaker Reveals
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Halle Berry was allegedly tricked into her X-Men: The Last Stand role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Vaughn disclosed that the trickery was why he walked away from the film. Vaughn signed on to direct the third movie as the film snagged more of its original cast to return.
Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and others had signed on, but Berry had yet to reprise her role as Storm. Vaughn claims a studio head injected an entire scene involving Storm to guarantee Halle’s involvement. The scene follows Storm saving kids in Africa from dehydration. Matthew recalled it being a “pretty cool idea” but later found out it would be cut once they successfully scored Halle Berry’s return.
“I went into one of the executive’s office and I saw an X3 script, and I immediately knew it was a lot fatter,” Vaughn recalled. “I was like, ‘What the hell is this draft?’ He went, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no. I’m the director. I’m worrying about this draft.’ He wouldn’t tell me, so I grabbed it literally — it was like a crazy moment — opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Storm. Kids dying of no water. She creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children.'”
“[I said,] ‘What is this?’ [They said,] ‘Oh, it’s Halle Berry’s script.’ I went, ‘OK, because she hasn’t signed up yet.’ ‘But this is what she wants it to be, and once she signs up, we’ll throw it in the bin,'” the director remembers, narrating the executive’s reply. “I was like, ‘Wow, you’re gonna do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm? I’m outta here.’ So I quit at that point.”
Halle Berry would, in fact, return for X-Men: The Last Stand. However, the scene Vaughn recalls isn’t present in the film’s final cut. The award-winning actress would also appear in one more mutant-based film in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.
In 2020, Halle opened up about working with Bryan Singer, who became director after Vaughn departed. The Cleveland native voiced her disdain for Singer and alleged he was “difficult” to work with. “Bryan’s not the easiest dude to work with,” Berry told Variety. “I mean, everybody’s heard the stories — I don’t have to repeat them — and heard of his challenges, and what he struggles with… 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. But at the same time, I have a lot of compassion for people who are struggling with whatever they’re struggling with, and Bryan struggles.”
“Sometimes, because of whatever he’s struggling with, he just didn’t always feel present,” Berry continued. “He didn’t feel there. And we’re outside in our little X-Men stage freezing our a** off in Banff, Canada, with subzero weather and he’s not focusing. And we’re freezing. You might get a little mad.”
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