“Megalopolis” Director Francis Ford Coppola Responded To Criticism Of Including Controversial Actors In The Film

Megalopolis, Francis’ big budget epic 40 years in the making, has made headlines for reports of the director’s unprofessional and erratic onset behavior, the visual effects team being fired halfway through shooting, and most recently, a trailer that reportedly included made-up reviews attributed to well-known critics.

However, it also features several actors involved in various controversies and, more or less, “canceled”—Shia LaBeouf, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight.

Shia was sued by his ex-girlfriends, including FKA Twigs, for “sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.” Before this, Shia had been arrested several times on dismissed charges, according to public records and newspaper reports.

Dustin was accused by multiple women, including costars, of sexual assault, according to various reports, although his attorney has called the accusations “defamatory falsehoods.”

While different from the other actors’ controversies, Jon has been criticized for his friendship and support of former president Donald Trump and his polarizing archconservative stances.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Francis explained that including these actors in the film was intentional.

“What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” Francis said. “The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another.”

“There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought,” he said.

Speaking of Shia, Francis said his method process stood apart from the other actors. “It was a very creative, interesting week of rehearsals. You could see the actors find the characters. Shia really took to it.”

“I had no experience working with him prior to this, but he deliberately sets up a tension between himself and the director to an extreme degree. He reminds me of Dennis Hopper, who would do something similar, and then you’d say, ‘Just go do anything,’ and then they go off and do something brilliant.”

As for Jon, Francis admitted that while they have different political views, this ultimately did not prevent them from making the film. “This steers me toward politics, and my publicist will yell at me if I start talking about politics,” Francis told Rolling Stone. “[Megaolpolis] won’t cure our ills. But I honestly believe that what will save us is the fact that we’ve got to talk about the future.”

“We want to be able to ask any questions we have to ask in order to really look at why this country is divided right now, and that’s going to provide an energy that will defeat those people who want to destroy our republic,” he added. “I made this film to contribute to that. And all I want is for this movie to start a conversation. You can’t have a utopia without a conversation.”

Megalopolis will be released in theaters on Sept. 27.