Glenn Close can’t imagine ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ without James Gunn.
The ‘101 Dalmatians’ actress starred as Nova Prime in the 2014 film and says it’s "sad" that the director was fired from the blockbuster franchise earlier this year over a series of controversial tweets he previously posted.
The 71-year-old actress doesn’t feel it’s right to dig up things people have said in the past that may be "politically incorrect" and hold it against them, though she admits that Gunn is a "flawed human" who said things to "provoke" people.
She told Empire magazine: "It’s hard to think of it without him.
"It’s sad. And it brings up, I think, some very tricky issues around this movement.
"I bring it up with every woman I talk to because I want to know what people feel, you know?
"Is that truly what we should be doing?
"Especially in this case, somebody [alt-right blogger Mike Cernovich] who’s known to ruin people for something that they wrote in a totally different context, what, 10, 12 years ago?
"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?
"I just think there’s something wrong about that.
"We are very flawed creatures. Look at what we are doing to our f***ing world.
"It’s a question I was talking to somebody about last night – you have somebody that actually has the creative energy to create something like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’.
"He’s a flawed human being. He was a, you know, cocky asshole then, and was saying things to provoke people.
Does that negate him as an artist?
"I don’t think so. I personally don’t think so.
"Or else we’re taking down buildings and paintings – you know, take down all the Picassos, he treated women terribly.
"If it’s going to be a lasting cultural revolution, which is a big change, if … we’ve got to take into consideration human nature."
Disney and Marvel both considered Gunn’s tweets to be completely unacceptable in the #MeToo era.
However, the ‘Guardians’ cast – which includes the likes of Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista – called for him to be reinstated as the director.