Movie director Ridley Scott has spoken out about his decision to relpace actor Kevin Spacey in his new film. The film, All the Money in the World, had finished shooting earlier this year with Spacey in one of the leading roles.
Scott announced in November he was bringing in Christopher Plummer to replace Spacey after allegations of sexual harrassment emerged against him.
The British film director said: “You can’t tolerate any kind of behaviour like that.
"You can't condone that kind of behaviour in any shape or form," Scott told Entertainment Weekly.
Scott said he also feared the publicity around Spacey would damage the film, which was seen as a potential Hollywood awards season contender.
“We cannot let one person’s actions affect the good work of all these other people,” he said.
Work on All the Money in the World, a drama based on the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, was near completion after a nine-day emergency reshoot in Rome and London.
“They’re going to see it. I may have to do a couple of technical things to make it land completely technically, but it’s really already done... I’ve done it,” Scott said.
Scott’s decision followed claims of sexual misconduct against Spacey by multiple men. Spacey issued an apology for the first reported incident, involving actor Anthony Rapp.
Hollywood trade paper Variety has reported that reshoot would cost about $10 million – one quarter of the already $40 million production budget for All the Money in the World, which is due for relaese later this month.
Asked for the movie studio’s reaction to his decision, Scott replied: “They were like, ‘You’ll never do it. God be with you’. – Reuters
