Halle Berry played Storm in four “X-Men” movies, but she didn’t always get along with the franchise’s director, Bryan Singer.
via: Page Six
Halle Berry was so fed up with Bryan Singer while making “X2: X-Men United” that she told the now-disgraced director to “kiss my black ass,” according to co-star Alan Cumming.
Berry allegedly hurled the disparaging comment on the set of the 2003 flick when the exhausted cast, worried for their personal safety and the health of Singer, decided to stage an intervention for the filmmaker.
Cumming writes in his upcoming book, “Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life,” that Singer “has himself admitted he was using painkillers at the time” and exhibited troubling behaviors including mood swings, paranoia and tantrums in addition to disappearing from set for hours on end.
As a result, Cumming, Berry, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, James Marsden and Famke Janssen — while in full costume and makeup — gathered in the Tony winner’s trailer one day to confront Singer. (Ian McKellen and Rebecca Romijn weren’t working that day.)
Cumming recalls that Berry “spoke movingly of people she had known with drug issues,” while the “Good Wife” alum discussed how the cast had been worried about their well-being on set.
Cumming writes that there was a pause in the room before Singer lifted his head and intoned: “You people … are full of f–king s–t!” The “Valkyrie” director allegedly continued berating the venerated group of actors, telling them that “none of us had ever made a decent film” and “were lucky to be working with him,” the book claims.
“I’ve heard enough,” Berry replied as she exited, according to Cumming’s account. “You can kiss my black ass.”
The author notes that production was subsequently halted and flurries of phone calls between the studio and lawyers ensued. Ultimately, however, he says the unhappy cast was told to hunker down and “muddle through” the rest of the arduous shoot.
Reps for Berry and Singer did not respond to Page Six’s requests for comment, but his publicist previously told The Hollywood Reporter that “nothing like that ever happened.”
Berry, 55, has admitted to having a testy relationship with Singer, 54, on set.
“I would sometimes be very angry with him,” she told Variety last year. “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 ass off in Banff, Canada, with subzero weather and he’s not focusing. And we’re freezing. You might get a little mad.”
Since 1997, Singer has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of men who were underage at the time of the alleged incidents. The screenwriter has denied any wrongdoing.
He was also infamously fired mid-shoot from “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2017 for allegedly skipping work.
To promote his book, Cumming, 56, will be in conversation with Ari Shapiro on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. ET at Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn. The ticketed event includes a signed copy.
Team Halle.
