X-Men star Rebecca Romijn has shared surprisingly positive memories of working with original franchise director Bryan Singer — but not-so-happy thoughts on X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner.
In an in-depth interview with The Independent, Romijn reflected on her time playing Mystique in the original X-Men film trilogy under 20th Century Fox in the 2000s. The initial installments, X-Men (2000) and X2: X-Men United (2003), were directed by Singer. Ratner took the reins on X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Both filmmakers have had their share of controversy in recent years, including accusations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct.
X-Men’s Rebecca Romijn recalls experiences with the directors
Regarding Singer, Romjin’s memories of the director are more upbeat, though she acknowledges the the abuse allegations against him. “He’s a fantastic filmmaker, you know? It was amazing watching him work,” Romijn said. “And you have to decide if you want to try and separate those two things. I know that the other cast confronted him about things. But I was not a part of that. I wasn’t there for it, so I can’t really speak to it.”
As for Ratner, Romijn admitted that her working relationship with the filmmaker behind Rush Hour and Red Dragon was difficult. Furthermore, she is far less sympathetic about Ratner’s career grinding to a halt following the sexual assault allegations several female actors made against him in 2017. “I was not happy working with him [Brett Ratner],” Romijn said. “But he’s been canceled. I haven’t spoken up about anything with regard to #MeToo, because I had two major issues with two directors I’ve worked with — and both of them already got theirs, one of them being Brett Ratner.”
Romijn is not the first X-Men star to describe negative experiences with Ratner. In 2017, Romijn’s Last Stand co-star Elliot Page recalled Ratner outing him as queer and making explicit comments about his female castmates. (This alleged incident would have taken place years before Page publicly came out as transgender.) Ratner has denied the allegations. However, Warner Bros. cut ties with the filmmaker, terminating the $450 million co-producing deal it had with Ratner’s production company, RatPac.
