Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn Reveals Why He Refuses to Work With Certain Actors

By Adam Barnhardt

James Gunn has long been known to work with favorite collaborators on one project to the next. His brother Sean has appeared in nearly everything the filmmaker has made, as have Michael Rooker and Nathan Fillion. On the flip side, the director said Saturday he keeps a list of actors, A-listers included, he'll never work with because of their temperament.

"If it's their temperament & it's serious, I'll immediately recast," the filmmaker said during a Q&A session on Twitter. "Life's too short for assholes. Same if they're repeatedly very late, which I hate, or unprepared. I have a long list of actors, A-list & otherwise, I'll never work with for these reasons…"

He went on to add that there have also been times where actors are great to work with, their performance just simply isn't up to par with the respective production.

"But if it's performance related, & they're putting their all into it, I'll do everything on my end to make it work until it's absolutely clear the quality of the project will be perceivably harmed if we don't recast," Gunn added. "This can happen with really talented actors who just don't fit."

The filmmaker also confirmed he does thorough reference checks on actors he works with in addition to production heads. Gunn said he'll reach out directly to others in Hollywood to so whether or not he should work with someone.

"I always do due diligence on actors & production heads with directors, actors, producers & crew members I trust," Gunn concluded his Twitter thread by adding. "If it checks out they're jerks (not just cranky or curmudgeons but actual jerks) or irresponsible I don't hire them. Some actors I already know never to even consider."

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters May 5, 2023 while the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has yet to set a release date.

What other Guardians characters would you like to see spinoffs of? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

Trending Now: