Halle Berry Responds To Matthew Vaughn Quitting X-MEN 3 Over Fake Script Pages

Longtime X-Men actress, Halle Berry, has responded to last year’s reveal by director Matthew Vaughn that executives at 20th Century tried to get her to sign onto X-Men: The Last Stand with fake promises and fake script pages eXpanding on Storm’s role.

Originally speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Vaughn revealed…

“I went into one of the executive’s office and I saw an X3 script, and I immediately knew it was a lot fatter. I was like what the hell is this draft. He went, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no. I’m the director. I’m worrying about this draft,’” he recalled. “He wouldn’t tell me, so I grabbed it literally — it was like a crazy moment — opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Storm. Kids dying of no water. She creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children.’”

Vaughn said he thought it was a “pretty cool idea,” but quickly found out their were nefarious intentions at hand. “[I went,] ‘What is this?’ [They said,] ‘Oh, it’s Halle Berry’s script. I went, ‘OK, because she hasn’t signed up yet.’ ‘But this is what she wants it to be, and once she signs up, we’ll throw it in the bin,’” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, you’re gonna do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm? I’m outta here.’ So I quit at that point.”

Brett Ratner took up directorial duties, with Vaughn eventually returning for X-Men: First Class. Vaugn and Berry would go on to work together on Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

When the story resurfaced this year, Berry responded: “Ya just never know the shady shit going on behind ya back,” she wrote in a post on X. “Thank you Matthew Vaughn for bringing the dark to light.”

We don’t think Berry ever read that version of the script. In 2005, she told us directly about her wishes for Storm in X3: “I have not read the script,” she said during a fan chat. “All I have asked, is that if I come back as Storm, she needs to be closer to the comic book. So, if they have in fact written her closer to the comic book character, then I’m in. If not, I’m out. I hope I’m in though. I love Storm, and really want to be part of the last film.”