Rebecca Romijn Talks About Working With X-MEN Directors Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner, Who She Throws Under The Bus
Rebecca Romijn used to only be known as a model, but in the last could of decades, she has made her own name in Hollywood starring in the X-Men film franchise, and shows like Just Shoot Me, Ugly Betty, and The Librarians. She has played some iconic characters, and she recently sat down with The Independent to discuss some of them.
Of her role in the series Ugly Betty - Alexis Meade, the transgender scion of a media dynasty, who’d faked their death before undergoing gender reassignment surgery, Romijn says:
“The executives at the time didn’t love the idea of the character. There was a real boys’ club running the show behind the scenes at that point. So to try and make it palatable to the boys’ club... they pitched me. And I jumped at the chance. I never would be cast in that role today, but I do feel like it helped open doors for the trans community. I’d like to think that, anyway. I don’t want to pat myself on the back too much.”
The cool thing about the role was that Alexis was just as outrageous and sexy as every other fashionista on that show. Romijn says of Alexis, “I really wanted to do that character justice – and make her as hot as possible.”
Moving on to her film roles, her most popular and biggest box office hits were the X-Men films, in which she played the character Mystique. She looks back to the movies with a fondness, as well as some turbulent memories. Many who worked on the movies have since come out against Bryan Singer, who directed the first two films in the franchise. Alan Cumming and Halle Berry have both spoken of an attempted intervention with Singer over the director’s alleged drug use on the set of X2. In recent years, Singer has also denied repeated allegations of sexual misconduct.
Romijn is aware that Singer has “had his fair share of stuff” in the years since, and that she’s grappled with how to approach her positive memories of him.
“He’s a fantastic filmmaker, you know? It was amazing watching him work. And you have to decide if you want to try and separate those two things. I know that the other cast confronted him about things. But I was not a part of that. I wasn’t there for it, so I can’t really speak to it.
She went on: “There was drama on set, and I witnessed it and I heard a lot about it. And he sometimes didn’t come in prepared. But he would show up and, without any preparation whatsoever, direct the most awesome scene that he was able to put together because he’s such a good filmmaker.” She adds that she doesn’t “want to throw anyone under the bus… Except for Brett Ratner.”
Ratner, the director of films including Rush Hour and Red Dragon, replaced Singer for 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which marked Romijn’s final substantial turn as Mystique. In 2017, six women – including actors Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge – accused Ratner of sexual assault and harassment, claims Ratner at the time “categorically” disputed through his attorney. Elliot Page, who played Shadowcat in X-Men: The Last Stand, also accused Ratner of sexual harassment on the set of the film.
Romijn continued:
“I was not happy working with him. But he’s been cancelled. I haven’t spoken up about anything with regard to #MeToo, because I had two major issues with two directors I’ve worked with – and both of them already got theirs, one of them being Brett Ratner. I kind of just... I didn’t feel like I needed to say anything. I know the two people that I worked with had it coming, and they got theirs. I’m not gonna... I don’t need to say anything else.”
Romijn says these two roles are ones she loved to play, and would even love to play them again, but she adds that if the role of Alexis were to ever come up again, a Trans actress would be the best choice for the role.
Rebecca Romijn is currently starring in the prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which you can stream on Paramount+.