Going into 2000, Halle Berry was already famous for movies like Jungle Fever, Boomerang and The Flinstones, but her turn as Storm in the first X-Men movie certainly helped boost her profile. Berry went on to reprise the weather-manipulating mutant in three more movies, and three quarters of her time in the X-Men franchise saw her being directed by Bryan Singer.
In a recent interview, Halle Berry admitted that she fought with Bryan Singer on several occasions, describing the filmmaker as “not the easiest dude to work with.” Berry continued:
I would sometimes be very angry with him. I got into a few fights with him, said a few cuss words out of sheer frustration. When I work, I’m serious about that. And when that gets compromised, I get a little nutty. But at the same time, I have a lot of compassion for people who are struggling with whatever they’re struggling with, and Bryan struggles.
Halle Berry isn’t the first actress to talk about having difficulties working with Bryan Singer. Olivia Munn, who played Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse, mentioned back in April how during the making of the 2016 superhero movie, Singer disappeared for 10 days and instructed that filming keep going in his absence. It was also reported in late July that X2: X-Men United’s principal photography the many members of the main cast, including Berry, threatened to quit when Singer was preparing to remove producer Tom DeSanto from the set.
Continuing in her interview with Variety, Halle Berry offered an example of how Bryan Singer was checked out during their time together on the X-Men franchise, saying:
Sometimes, because of whatever he’s struggling with, he just didn’t always feel present. He didn’t feel there. And we’re outside in our little X-Men stage freezing our ass off in Banff, Canada, with subzero weather and he’s not focusing. And we’re freezing. You might get a little mad.
After directing X-Men and X2: X-Men United, Bryan Singer left to work on Superman Returns, resulting in Brett Ratner taking over helming duties on X-Men: The Last Stand. Singer and Halle Berry collaborated one more time on 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, although Storm’s role wasn’t nearly as nearly as prominent compared to her prior three appearances. Alexandra Shipp took over as a younger Ororo Munroe in X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix.
While the X-Men franchises unquestionably played a huge role in popularizing superhero movies, the main film series suffered from diminishing returns towards the end of its run. Yes, spinoffs like Deadpool and Logan proved critically and commercially successful, but X-Men: Apocalypse was met with mixed reactions and Dark Phoenix proved to be a dud across the board.
Now that 20th Century Fox has been absorbed into Disney, the plan is for the X-Men property to someday be rebooted within the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity. As for Halle Berry, she’s recently starred in Kingsman: The Golden Circle and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, and can be seen next in Bruised, which she also directed.
We here at CinemaBlend will keep you apprised of what the MCU’s plan for the X-Men is as soon as news trickles in. For now, look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise has coming up.
