Viggo Mortensen reveals how his son shut down X-Men director Bryan Singer in meeting
Mortensen's son was not impressed with Singer's storyboards
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Your support makes all the difference.Viggo Mortensen has revealed how his young son shut down X-Men director Bryan Singer in a meeting about taking on the role of Wolverine.
The Lord of the Rings star has often spoken about turning down the part of Wolverine in Singer’s 2000 blockbuster X-Men, but the actor gave further details surrounding his decision during a recent appearance on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast.
Mortensen said that he had brought his son Henry, who he said loves comic books, to a meeting with Singer, when his son told the director that he took issue with the storyboards depicting Wolverine’s look in the forthcoming film.
The actor added that his son’s observations left Singer “falling all over himself” while he attempted to “explain in detail why he was taking certain liberties”.
Speaking about his choice to pass on the coveted role, Mortensen said that he was not interested in taking on a part that would be a “commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over”.
Read more: Viggo Mortensen interview: 'The criticism of Green Book is based on a load of bulls***'
“But I did take Henry to the meeting I had with my director as my sort of good luck charm and guide,” said Mortensen.
“In the back of my mind I was thinking he could learn something too, because I did let Henry read the script and he goes, ‘This is wrong. That’s not how it goes.’”
Mortensen added that following Henry’s objections in the meeting, “we walked out of there and Henry asks if [Singer] will change the things he told him about and I say, ‘I don’t think so.’
Read more: Bafta suspends Bryan Singer's Boheniam Rhapsody nomination after sexual assault claims in 2019
“I’m not going to do it anyway, because I’m not sure I want to be doing this for year, and then a couple of years later I’m doing three Lord of the Rings so who knows.”
Hugh Jackman went on to land the role of Wolverine and in the 20 years since has played the character in 10 features, including the franchise's Wolverine-focused trilogy.
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