Rebecca Hall Discusses Her 'Iron Man 3' Role Reduction

Nick Schager
Rebecca Hall in 'Iron Man 3' (Photo: Walt Disney Pictures/Everett Collection)
Rebecca Hall in ‘Iron Man 3’ (Photo: Walt Disney Pictures/Everett Collection)

While doing press for this past summer’s The Nice Guys, writer-director Shane Black spilled some info on the process of making Marvel’s Iron Man 3 — specifically, how he was told he couldn’t have a woman as the film’s main villain character because of the fear it would be more difficult to sell related toys. Now, the actress who was in line to be the primary foe to Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero is speaking out about her role reduction — and applauding the studio for starting to get its gender-equality act together.

Related: Inside Rebecca Hall’s Tragic Performance as a Suicidal Reporter in ‘Christine’

Promoting her upcoming Oscar-buzzed-about drama Christine at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Rebecca Hall told the Toronto Sun that making the Marvel sequel was a frustrating experience, given that the part she originally signed on for wasn’t what she actually wound up with. Referring to Black’s prior comments, she told the paper, “That’s 100 percent true… I’ve been gagging to talk about it with someone, but I haven’t had the opportunity, weirdly.”

She continued: “I signed on to do something that was a substantial role. She wasn’t entirely the villain — there have been several phases of this — but I signed on to do something very different to what I ended up doing. Halfway through shooting they were basically like, ‘What would you think if you just got shot out of nowhere?’ I was meant to be in the movie until the end… I grappled with them for awhile and then I said, ‘Well, you have to give me a decent death scene and you have to give me one more scene with Iron Man,’ which Robert Downey Jr. supported me on.”

Related: Shane Black: How He Went From Golden Boy to Outcast to the Top Again

Although Hall’s own Marvel outing didn’t turn out exactly as planned, she’s glad to see that the studio is finally righting its casting wrongs with its upcoming projects.

“Look, (Marvel) is paying for their mistakes right now, and I applaud them for casting Brie Larson in Captain Marvel. Hallelujah. It’s about time women started being the heroes of things.”

Christine, in which Hall plays real-life TV reporter Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide on-air, opens in theaters on Oct. 14.

‘Iron Man 3’: Watch a trailer:

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