X-Men’s Kelsey Grammer Reflects on the “Sinking Feeling” of Getting Recast as Beast

Kelsey Grammer didn’t take it well when he learned that the X-Men movie franchise was recasting his role as Beast.

Grammer was part of THR’s “Full Comedy Actor Roundtable” segment, alongside fellow comedic TV stars  Theo James (Netflix’s The Gentleman), Ricky Martin (Palm Royale), Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal), Bowen Yang (SNL), and John Goodman (The Connors). Halfway through the conversation, the group was asked about some of the most challenging pieces of news or feedback they’ve had to deal with; Grammer had two items, and the one in top place was finding out that X-Men: First Class was happening… without him. 

“The most challenging things I’ve ever heard, actually, really… One was after I just played Beast – [to Mackie] my days in Marvel – and they came up and said, ‘We have the most wonderful next film planned.’ And this was Lauren Donner, and she said ‘We’re going to go back in time!’ And I suddenly had that sinking feeling of ‘Oh, so I won’t be in it – so my performance as Beast will not be in it. That’s what you’re telling me.’ And sure enough, it went back in time and I was gone. So that was really exciting news for me.”  

Grammer thrilled many Marvel fans and moviegoers alike when he took on the role of Hank McCoy/Beast in the X-Men Movie Trilogy finale, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Last Stand is now infamous for how director Brett Ratner stepped in (replacing Matthew Vaughn) and nearly stalled the franchise with his shoddy mashup of X-Men plotlines, most notably a rushed and lackluster version of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Despite all the many, many, criticisms of X-Men: The Last Stand, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast stands out as an indisputable fan-favorite casting. 

After The Last Stand brought the X-Men movies to a dead end, and a planned series of X-Men solo character spinoffs (like X-Men Origins: Wolverine) didn’t work, franchise producer Lauren Schuler Donner decided to go the prequel route, bringing Matthew Vaughn back in for X-Men: First Class (2011). Naturally, the role of Beast was handed to a younger actor, Nicholas Hoult, and to his credit, Hoult has had most fans’ approval as he’s carried the Beast role through a quadrilogy of X-Men movies, including First Class, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. 

That said, Kelsey Grammer has recently made a triumphant comeback, once again playing Beast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, during a surprise post-credits scene for The Marvels. A lot of MCU fans are hoping that Kevin Feige (one of the original assistants on the X-Men films) will bring Grammer back for a larger arc as Beast. 

The X-Men movies are streaming on Disney+.