Bryan Singer's Traumatic 'X-Men' Set

The director's auteur style changed Hollywood's approach to superhero movies forever, but his on-set tantrums, a cast mutiny and, later, allegations of sexual abuse have left a tarnished legacy as the franchise turns 20.

"It's critical when analyzing Bryan Singer's body of work that we center the experiences and trauma faced by his victims and put their continued well-being first,"

In hindsight, some project insiders say one piece of casting should have prompted a red flag, at least subsequently: that of Alex Burton, an 18-year-old who played the bit part of Pyro. No one remembers how Burton, who had no previous credits, was cast. One source says Burton told him, "Marc [Collins-Rector] and Bryan [Singer] created that role for me." Another source says Burton was flown up to the Toronto set from Los Angeles, an unheard-of move given the size of his role (studios typically cast locals for talent with one or no lines). Eight days after X-Men's Ellis Island premiere on July 12, 2000, Burton filed a civil suit against three of Singer's friends and business associates in the Digital Entertainment Network venture, a youth-skewing multimedia dot-com and precursor to YouTube — Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce (Pierce was later dropped as a defendant) — claiming that he had been plied with drugs, sexually assaulted by the trio at the DEN outpost in Encino, held against his will and threatened with physical harm between July 1999 and May 2000, a period that encompasses X-Men's six-month production. According to the suit, Burton also was an employee of DEN during that time frame. The suit, which did not name Singer, also declares that Collins-Rector "threatened to use his power and influence in the entertainment industry to prevent Burton from gaining employment in the field of entertainment."

What did raise hackles was Singer's tempestuous nature. In interviews at the time, he conceded that he was taking pain medication for a bad back. Others on set characterized his drug use as problematic, leading to late arrivals to the set, mood swings and explosive tantrums. Some of the characters, like Romijn's Mystique, required hours of body painting before filming. On a whim, Singer would decide not to use her in a scene. Marvel chief Kevin Feige, then a young executive working for Shuler Donner, was dispatched to ensure that someone was keeping Singer in line.

Singer's behavior grew erratic and destructive, culminating in a fight between the director and DeSanto that shut down production. Sources who were present say DeSanto attempted to halt shooting when he learned that Singer was incapacitated after taking a narcotic. Some crewmembers had taken the same drug, and DeSanto became fearful that someone on set could be injured. All of the main cast, with the exception of McKellen, were in the scene that day, which takes place in the X Jet and comes near the end of the movie. But Singer was defiant and continued shooting, leading to a botched stunt that left Jackman bleeding on camera (no stunt coordinator was present because the scene was supposed to be shot the following day). Winter, the X-Men producer who had the authority to stop production, did so. But the next day, the studio appeared to side with Singer and told DeSanto to return to Los Angeles. That prompted the main castmembers, minus McKellen and Romijn — all dressed in their full X-Men costumes — to converge in Singer's trailer and confront him, threatening to quit if DeSanto left. That's when Berry famously said to Singer, "You can kiss my Black ass," a line that has been oft-reported in the years since but never with the correct backstory. DeSanto declined to comment about the fight. A rep for Singer says that "nothing like that ever happened."