Ridley Scott Says It’s ‘A Pity’ He Had to Cut Kevin Spacey From ‘All the Money in the World’

Ridley Scott has been so outspoken about such a variety of subjects in recent weeks, from his opinion on who Disney should (and should not) be hiring to direct “Star Wars” movies to why “Blade Runner 2049” didn’t fare better at the box office, that the strange circumstances surrounding his exceptional new film have almost taken a backseat.

That isn’t the case in a new Guardian interview about “All the Money in the World,” which starred Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty until Scott made the decision to replace him with Christopher Plummer in the light of numerous accusations of sexual misconduct. Scott calls the decision “a pity,” though he doesn’t seem to regret it.

“I knew he liked the chaps, you know. But it’s not my business. I never witnessed anything untoward. He’s a very good actor,” Scott says.

“My decision was almost immediate. I said: ‘We need to re-do this.’ I phoned Christopher and asked if he’d meet me in New York. Met him that night,” he continues, adding that “I didn’t agonise. I never dwell on a problem, only the solution. You learn to do that, doing what I do.”

That doesn’t mean that finding out about the allegations against Spacey wasn’t hugely unpleasant, of course. Scott describes his initial feeling by sighing and saying “Eeeeeeeh. You get that nasty, deep, gut feeling: oh shit.”