X-Men Star Rebecca Romijn “Was Not Happy” Working With One Franchise Director

X-Men franchise star Rebecca Romijn confessed in a recent interview that she had bad experiences working with Brett Ratner on the set of X3: X-Men United, admitting that she had “major issues” with the filmmaker but saying in a new interview that she didn’t feel the need to say much more, since he had already been “cancelled” after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. Romijn said she had similarly bad experiences with another filmmaker — whom she declined to identify — but that person had also already been outed. Since they “got theirs,” Romijn said she did not feel like anything she had to say would add much value to the conversation.

The profile touched on a number of hot-button issues, including the trans character Romijn played in Ugly Betty — a job she says she would not take today. She also admitted that X-Men and Superman Returns director Bryan Singer was problematic on set, but that she had no personal experiences with that, and that she remained impressed by his work as a filmmaker.

“I was not happy working with [Brett Ratner],” Romijn told The Independent. “But he’s been cancelled. 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…I didn’t feel like I needed to say anything. I know the two people that I worked with had it coming, and they got theirs…I don’t need to say anything else.”

Ratner was one of a number of candidates Warner Bros. considered to direct Superman Returns. Ultimately, when Singer got the job, that opened up the X-Men franchise for Ratner to join. Numerous actors, including X-Men veteran Olivia Munn and Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, have worked to distance themselves from Ratner since allegations about abusive on-set behavior came to light.

“He’s a fantastic filmmaker, you know?” Romijn said of Singer. “It was amazing watching him work. 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.”

“There was drama on set, and I witnessed it and I heard a lot about it,” she added. “And he sometimes didn’t come in prepared. But he would show up and, without any preparation whatsoever, direct the most awesome scene that he was able to put together because he’s such a good filmmaker.”

Rumors of abusive behavior followed Singer for years, primarily centering on the idea that he would have relationships with barely-legal teens and young men. Those rumors never seemed to stick, with some speculating that Singer’s lawyers would use legal threats to get stories removed from the internet. It wasn’t until work on the Academy Award-winning Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody that he was finally “cancelled.” 

While the sexual misconduct allegations made for sexy headlines, Singer was eventually removed from the film, supposedly, because of a lack of preparation and sudden absence from set. Singer blamed a health issue, and framed it as the studio being unreasonable, although some later reports would imply that substance abuse issues may have played a role. Those allegations were never substantiated, but certainly impacted some of the public perception of the situation. Between his existing reputation and those new allegations, it was difficult for audiences to fully see the studio as the “bad guy” in the Singer situation. Singer has not directed a major movie since, although there are some reports that he is living and working in Israel now.