‘X-Men’ Director Says Halle Berry Was Tricked Into Role

According to X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn, Halle Berry was tricked into returning to the franchise for her X-Men: The Last Stand role. Here’s what to know.

Halle Berry is known for her iconic role as Storm in the first film adaptation of the comic book series X-Men. The superhero franchise launched Berry into worldwide fame. She continued to play her role as the mutant superhero known for her ability to manipulate weather and create lightning storms. However, one of her portrayals has been making headlines. Director Matthew Vaughn, known for his critically acclaimed reboot X-Men: First Class, was initially offered to step in for the third film in the franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand. The director was considering stepping in for the series’ original director, Bryan Singer. However, Vaughn rejected the offer once he became aware of the studio executive’s secret plan.

Years after the film’s release, Matthew Vaughn revealed at the New York City Comic-Con why he stepped away from directing the third X-Men film, and it has to do with Halle Berry. He said, “One of the main reasons I quit X-Men 3, and this is a true story. I went to an executive’s office and I saw an X3 script. It was a lot fatter. I asked, ‘What is this draft?’ They were like, ‘Don’t worry about it.’” So, what was the next thing that the director did? He investigated further. Vaughn continued, “So I grabbed it, and opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Kids dying from no water, and Storm creates a thunderstorm to save all these children.’ I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I said, ‘What is this?’ They said, ‘This is the Halle Berry script, because she hasn’t signed on yet. This is what she wants it to be. And once she signs on, we’ll throw it in the bin.’” The plan was to trick the actress into signing on for the third film. Vaughn didn’t like the sound of this plan, so he quit.

He continued to explain, “I thought, if you’re going to do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm, I quit.” Berry did end up signing on for the third film. While there were no scenes in Africa, her character was given a more prominent role.