James Francis Gunn is an American filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter who began his career in the mid-1990s.
His first-ever movie as a director was a horror-comedy film called Slither. His notable projects include Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker.
Recently, the director participated in an impromptu fan Q&A session on Twitter and replied to some of the questions people asked him on the platform.
According to PEOPLE, a fan took the opportunity and asked him to ask about his attitude toward an actor he doesn’t get along with – for one reason or the other.
“If you as a director have an actor who isn’t working out for any number of reasons (their process, temperament, lack of chemistry, etc.) do you talk to them and give them a chance or two or do you quick trigger it and recast?” the Twitterati wrote.
“If it’s their temperament & it’s serious, I’ll immediately recast,” James replied. “Life’s too short for a——-. Same if they’re repeatedly very late, which I hate, or unprepared. I have a long list of actors, A-list & otherwise; I’ll never work with for these reasons….”
“But if it’s performance related, & they’re putting their all into it, I’ll do everything on my end to make it work until it’s absolutely clear the quality of the project will be perceivably harmed if we don’t recast. This can happen with really talented actors who just don’t fit,” he added.
Another person pitched into the discussion and asked the filmmaker about his way of casting ‘difficult’ actors.
“How do you find out that certain actors are a**holes? Do you consider them for your projects, but then you find out from other directors that it is not worth working with them, or do you meet them at various events?”
Gunn responded by saying, “I always do due diligence on actors & production heads with directors, actors, producers & crew members I trust. If it checks out they’re jerks (not just cranky or curmudgeons but actual jerks) or irresponsible; I don’t hire them.
“Some actors I already know never to even consider.”
While the Guardians director didn’t name any actor in particular, a person commented on his response tweet and asked if the WWE actor John Cena falls into that category.
“John Cena is among the best people to work with – always prepared & on time & kind to everyone. He & many of my regulars are among the actors I die to work with. I want to shout out to them here, but paucity of characters means I’d be leaving many out,” he wrote.
The 45-year-old professional actor and former rapper appeared in Gunn’s movie, The Suicide Squad, as a superhero called Peacemaker. Later, he also played the lead role in HBO Max’s series based on his character – Gunn directed it.
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