Anna Paquin's part was cut from upcoming 'X-Men' film, says director
It was back in January when聽X-Men: Days of Future Past听诲颈谤别肠迟辞谤 Bryan Singer revealed that the growing cast of the X-Men: First Class sequel would also see the return of familiar faces , played by Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page and Anna Paquin, respectively. They, along with most of the franchise staples from the original聽X-Men movie trilogy return for the sections of the聽聽story that take place in a post-apocalyptic future 鈥� in an alternate timeline.
With so many mutant characters vying for screen time in the ensemble(s), we knew many major characters from Marvel Comics wouldn鈥檛 get much to do, especially with star Hugh Jackman describing the project as . It鈥檚 so packed in fact, that at least one of the major characters won鈥檛 even make it into the theatrical version of the film.
spoke with Bryan Singer who confirmed that Anna Paquin鈥檚 scenes as the X-Men character Rogue had to be cut.
鈥淭hrough the editing process, the sequence became extraneous. It鈥檚 a really good sequence and it will probably end up on the DVD so people can see it. But like many things in the editing process, it was an embarrassment of riches and it was just one of the things that had to go. Unfortunately, it was the one and only sequence Anna Paquin was in, the Rogue character was in. Even though she鈥檚 in the materials and part of the process of making the film, she won鈥檛 appear in it.鈥�
Singer continued, explaining that the decision to remove Rogue from the theatrical cut entirely had nothing to do with Paquin鈥檚 performance.
鈥淪he was awesome in the sequence. She鈥檚 a brilliant actress. I would work with her in a heartbeat.鈥�
The scene in question involved Rogue, Iceman, Professor X and Magneto and a rescue mission and parts of that appear in the聽.聽We heard that she only had a few scenes but that they were relatively important ones so the fact they she鈥檚 cut out entirely could mean there have been some late-stage tweaks to the project.
It鈥檚 possible that since聽 in the works for a 2016 release 鈥� with Singer, Simon Kinberg,聽听-听迟丑补迟听Days of Future Past has changed since it finished shooting. Perhaps now it was re-worked a bit with the extra weeks of shooting that occurred this month to lead into and setup聽Apocalypse but that鈥檚 just speculation. We still don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 returning from聽Days of Future Past for the next sequel outside of the main stairs of聽X-Men: First Class who are contracted for .
As for Rogue, fans disappointed in how the character was underutilized in the聽X-Men trilogy 鈥� and arguably ruined in聽X3: The Last Stand聽- are so desensitized to her not getting a fair shake in the film universe that Anna Paquin鈥檚 scenes being cut will have no effect. It鈥檚 par for the course after all. While promoting聽X3, Paquin made it abundantly clear that she wasn鈥檛 too impressed that after three films she still didn鈥檛 get to acquire additional powers and partake in the action. That trend continues here, but in this case, it seems to be in service of polishing the story which we can鈥檛 complain about. More reason to pick up聽X-Men: Days of Future Past on home video?
Rob Keyes blogs at .
