While the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' actress realizes that the director is 'a flawed human being,' she thinks that he should not be penalized professionally.
- Sep 5, 2018
AceShowbiz - Glenn Close doesn't believe James Gunn's controversial remarks should "negate him as an artist."
The actress starred in "Guardians of the Galaxy", playing Nova Prime Irani Rael in the first live action appearance of the character. A flurry of actors and actresses have spoken out in support of Gunn, the film's director, who was fired from the franchise in July after a number of tweets from between 2008 and 2011 emerged, in which the filmmaker made light of sensitive subjects like rape and paedophilia.
Close is the latest Hollywood star to question Disney's decision to remove him from his post, months before he was due to begin production this autumn on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3".
"It was a question I was talking about to somebody last night - you have somebody that actually has the creative energy to create something like Guardians of the Galaxy," she explained in an interview with Empire magazine. "He's a flawed human being. He was a, you know, cocky a**hole back then, and was saying things to provoke people. Does that negate him as an artist? I don't think so. I personally do not think so."
The 71-year-old compared this to other artists, like Pablo Picasso, who "treated women terribly" but was not penalised professionally, while also emphasising that Gunn's tweets were "wrote in a totally different context."
"What are we going to do, go back to our pasts and make sure that everything we said was politically correct? Who can live like that?" she added.
Shortly after Gunn was fired, fellow director Rian Johnson admitted that he deleted thousands of old Twitter posts out of fear that "off the cuff" comments could similarly be used as "ammunition" against him.
The question of Gunn's dismissal has particularly struck a chord with "Guardians of the Galaxy" star Dave Bautista, who hinted that he may not reprise his character, Drax the Destroyer, in the third film of the series.
