Jackson’s brother, superstar Michael Jackson, eyed his own X-Men role: Charles Xavier.
Do you know what happens to a role when it’s recast? The same thing that happens to everything else. As it turns out, that infamous line might have been delivered by Janet Jackson, who passed on the role of Storm in 2000’s X-Men. The pop icon came close to playing the weather-manipulating mutant in the big-screen adaptation of the Marvel comic book before the Bryan Singer film cast rising star Halle Berry.
“It was…this is horrible,” the “That’s the Way Love Goes” singer said on The Drew Barrymore Show. “I can’t remember the film, but Halle Berry played Storm.” When Barrymore pointed out the film was X-Men, Jackson explained, “I couldn’t because I was just embarking on the Janet tour.”
In a 2017 interview, X-Men screenwriter David Hayter revealed that another pop star met for the role of Storm — “Vision of Love” singer Mariah Carey — as did Boyz n the Hood actress Angela Bassett, who was the filmmaker’s first pick to play the mutant goddess. (In the same interview, Hayter recalled how Jackson’s brother, king of pop Michael Jackson, lobbied for the role of X-Men founder Professor Charles Xavier.)
“I was writing it for the comic book characters. I was brought on as they were casting, so I was lucky enough to be there for some of the people who came in like Terence Stamp for Xavier and Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey for Storm. Michael Jackson came in because he wanted to play Professor X,” Hayter told THR. “It was amazing. Shaq came in. Viggo Mortensen came in. I really liked Viggo for Wolverine, but it didn’t come together for whatever reason. Angela Bassett was our first choice for Storm, but her agents wanted more money than we had at the time. Same with Rachael Leigh Cook for Rogue.”
Berry went on to reprise the role in 2003’s X2: X-Men United, 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, and 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. The Oscar winner — who also played a black leather suit-clad superheroine in Catwoman — previously told ComicBook she’s open to returning to either the DC or Marvel universes.
“I would revisit any of them, actually,” Berry said. “I loved all of those characters [Storm and Catwoman] and I was always grateful to get to play them and be a part of those big franchises, you know? So I would revisit any of them.”
