A longstanding rumor regarding 2013 apocalyptic comedy This Is the End has Emma Watson storming off set after refusing to film a certain scene, which was reignited recently after its writer-director-star, Seth Rogen, was asked about it in a recent interview. He’s now clarified, though, that Watson didn’t act unprofessionally at all.
The film sees various celebrities trying to stay alive as the end times begin during a Hollywood party. Watson joins the survivors after things briefly settle, only to exit the story when a misunderstanding leads her to believe they’re planning to rape her. She threatens them with an axe, departs with a foul-mouthed tirade and steals their remaining supply of alcohol.
The original plan was for her to remain in the movie, but a later scene involving Danny McBride leading a group of cannibals with Channing Tatum as their gimp made her too uncomfortable to participate in, from which the perception of the circumstances of her departure arose.
Rogen has now addressed the issue in a lengthy message on Twitter, saying the following about it:
“I want to correct a story that has emerged from a recent interview I gave. It misrepresents what actually happened. Emma Watson did not ‘storm off the set’ and it’s shitty that the perception is that she did. The scene was not what was originally scripted, it was getting improvised, changed drastically and was not what she agreed to. The narrative that she was in some way uncool or unprofessional is complete bullshit. I for sure should have communicated better, and because I didn’t, she was put in an uncomfortable position.
“She and I spoke on the night; it was overall a shitty situation and it must have been hard for her to say something and I’m very happy and impressed that she did. We agreed on her not being in the scene together. I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with her and would be thrilled to get that opportunity again. I am very sorry and disappointed it happened, and I wish I had done more to prevent it.”
To be fair, Rogen’s response in the interview didn’t actually validate the presumption, but the article was worded to imply that’s what he was doing. He even concedes that the way things were reworked to address Watson’s departure ended up making the film funnier.
Although the actress isn’t in This Is the End for a great deal of time, she’s one of the most memorable aspects of it, with the exaggerated versions of themselves that each actor plays also extending to her, and the violence and profanity she displays being at odds with the public perception of her as a fragile English rose. It certainly sounds as though the situation on set wasn’t as dismissive as was believed, and that Rogen would admit to being at fault to explain what happened should hopefully put paid to any further misconceptions.