Rebecca Romijn breaks silence on ‘X-Men’ filmmaker #MeToo allegations
Six years after the #MeToo movement swept through Hollywood, actress Rebecca Romijn is finally ready to speak up about working with two of the most controversial directors in show business.
Romijn, 50, starred as the blue-skinned Mystique in the “X-Men” movies, notably helmed by Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner. Both have been accused — very publicly — of sexual misconduct.
Singer, 57, directed Romijn in “X-Men” and “X2.”
Singer has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least four men, who were allegedly underage at the time.
Ratner, 54, who directed Romijn in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” has also been accused of sexual misconduct by several women, including Olivia Munn and actress Natasha Henstridge. “Juno” actor Elliot Page also spoke out about being harassed and outed by Ratner as a vulnerable young person in Hollywood, struggling with their sexuality.
So why didn’t Romijn say anything when she worked with these two directors, and the #MeToo movement was shining a light on actions by other celebs such as Louis CK and James Franco?
She told the Independent that it was hard to reconcile Singer’s filmmaking — with which she claims to have had a positive experience — with his actions.
“He’s a fantastic filmmaker, you know? 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,” she said.
“There was drama on set, and I witnessed it and I heard a lot about it. 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.”
Romijn added that she “didn’t want to throw anyone under the bus … except for Brett Ratner,” with whom the actress said she had issues.
Still, she didn’t speak up at the time that the #MeToo movement was at its height, because she felt that the information was already public, and Ratner had “gotten his.”
“I was not happy working with him,” Romijn said, referring to Ratner.
“But he’s been canceled. 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.”
Romijn also spoke about playing a trans character, Alexis, in ABC’s “Ugly Betty.”
“The executives at the time didn’t love the idea of the character,” Romijn said. “There was a real boys’ club running the show behind the scenes at that point. So to try and make it palatable to the boys’ club … they pitched me. And I jumped at the chance.”
However, if the show got rebooted today, Romijn said, “Alexis should be cast with a trans actress.”
