Even before the allegations of sexual assault were made against him, Bryan Singer had gained a negative reputation in Hollywood thanks to his unprofessional and disruptive on-set behaviour.
There are multiple reports of the director flying off the handle without provocation, and the likes of Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Rami Malek and others have indicated (if not outright stated) that Singer's "bullying" ways could make him a nightmare to work with.
However, one actor has now come to the filmmaker's defence.
Emmy-winning Succession star Brian Cox, who played the villainous William Stryker in X-Men 2, aka X2: X-Men United, explained that Singer was "under a lot of strain" during production while chatting to Yahoo!
"One of his great things was that when he came to a new set, he would have to rethink it," Cox recalled. "He'd have a thought, and then have to rethink [the scene]. So that was always a difficult transition for him. But once he cracked it, he cracked it very quickly and was able to get on with it."
Cox also revealed that he was Singer's first choice to play Stryker, and the director had to fight to land him the role.
"I think he's an extraordinary director — really, really gifted. Certainly, I will always be grateful to him because he had confidence in me and got me the role. I played a waiting game and it worked."
Singer directed the first two X-Men movies before returning for Days of Future Past and Apocalypse. He was set to helm the upcoming Red Sonja reboot before being fired after more accusations surfaced. Though he hasn't been formally charged, it seems highly unlikely that he'll be hired to work for any major studio again.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.