Original Blade Runner Star Thought Her Sequel Cameo Was “Sh-t”

One of the bigger surprises that Blade Runner 2049 delivered fans was a brief appearance of the likeness of Sean Young‘s Rachel from the original 1982 movie, given that she was a “replicant” that shouldn’t have aged, with Young herself noting that the appearance of her character was “full of sh-t.” The actress admits that she was paid for the appearance of her likeness and that she signed a non-disclosure agreement, with the actress chalking up her lack of substantial involvement in the endeavor being based on her poor relationship with original director Ridley Scott. She did note, however, that her son worked on the film behind the scenes.

“Wasn’t that so full of sh-t? And there was nothing I could do about it,” Young revealed to The Daily Beast. “It was very clear that they knew that the audience would be upset that I wasn’t in it, but they didn’t want me to bitch about that publicly. So, they paid me some money, made me sign a non-disclosure agreement, and gave me 30 seconds. And I was like, fine. They did give my son Quinn a job on 2049 in visual arts, and I said all was forgiven. He’s got great skills.”

The premise of the original film is that Deckard is tasked with “retiring” replicants, with Young’s Rachel being such a sophisticated creation, she wasn’t initially aware of her origins. Replicants were originally only to survive for a few years, so with Blade Runner 2049 taking place decades after the original, any actual appearance from the actress could have caused story complications. However, as proven with the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian and Mark Hamill’s involvement in bringing a younger Luke Skywalker to life, the original performer can contribute to such an opportunity.

Young went on to note that she cites her lack of involvement to not following Scott’s advice that she should date co-star Ford during the original movie.

“Well, honestly, Ridley wanted me to date [Ford]. He tried very hard in the beginning of the show to date him, and I never would,” Young pointed out. “I was like, nah. And then he started dating the actress who played Zhora, Joanna Cassidy, and I felt relieved. And then we do this scene, and I think it was Ridley. I think Ridley was like, f-ck you. I was thinking, ‘Why did this have to be like that? What was the point of that?’ and I think it was Ridley’s none-too-subtle message that he was getting even with me.”

She added, “He never hired me again, and that was weird. What the f-ck? You hire Russell Crowe a gazillion times and you’re not gonna hire me again? And I was very nice to Ridley over the years. I never badmouthed him. It didn’t occur to me until later that I guess I’d offended him.”

Stay tuned for details on the possible future of Blade Runner.

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