Famke left X-Men franchise because of ageism & sexism

Actor Famke Janssen, who originally essayed the role of Jean Grey in most of the X-Men franchise films, blames Hollywood’s sexism for her exit from the series.

“I didn’t give up, they gave up on me. There’s a big difference,” Janssen told usmagazine.com. She cited ageism and sexism as the reasons for her exit. “It was their (producers’) decision, you know? It’s like what happens in life... Just like men trade women in for a younger model version. It’s like that,” said Janssen.

While she said that she was excited for Sophie Turner, who was cast as the young Jean Grey, Janssen also wondered why the older Jean Grey couldn’t exist alongside the younger one, as with Magneto (Ian McKellen as the older Eric Lehnsherr and Michael Fassbender as the younger one) and Professor X (Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy as the older and younger Charles Xavier, respectively). “In the X-Men series, they’ve been doing this for years. Although women — it’s interesting because they’re replaced, and the older versions, or more mature, whatever the politically correct version of that is — are never to be seen again. Whereas, the men are allowed to be both ages. Sexism,” said Janssen.

“I think that I should be back along with my younger version and the way that we’ve seen it with Magneto and Professor X,” she added.

Turner was cast in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). Her character is expected to cross to the dark side in the next installment, X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Jennifer Lawrence is back as Mystique; Nicholas Hoult as Beast; Tye Sheridan as Cyclops; Alexandra Shipp as Storm; Kodi SmitMcPhee as Nightcrawler; Evan Peters as Quicksilver; and Olivia Munn as Psylocke.