Ridley Scott’s newest film All the Money in the World, which originally began filming in May of 2017, underwent massive reshoots in the final weeks leading up to its release.
Actor Kevin Spacey was originally cast, and had shot most of his scenes, as oil tycoon John Paul Getty before the stories of his sexual misconduct broke. Scott then made the last minute decision to cut Spacey out of the movie entirely and replace him with Christopher Plummer — all of which was done within about a month of the film’s release.
Scott recently gave an interview with NPR talking about his decision to do so. He said that he made the decision, “In a heartbeat — took about 20 minutes. I can’t let one person’s actions affect the film to the extent that we may not have actually released it. I couldn’t let that happen.”
All of Plummer’s 22 scenes, which also required other prominent members of the cast and crew such as Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams to return, were filmed in nine days. Four days after they had finished rolling, they had a rough cut ready to screen for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film ended up scoring several Golden Globe nominations, one of which is for Plummer’s performance.
“Prepare is a funny word — I don’t usually prepare,” Plummer, who is 88 years old, said to NPR. “I leave it up to instinct and imagination I had no time to research it or anything. Right, bang, right straight in.”
Vulture also interviewed Scott, asking him how he approached bringing Plummer on board. “I would never show Christopher what Kevin did,” Scott said. “I want him to be his own man. He is his own man in this one, and a lot of that comes from the inherent nature of Christopher, who is essentially very charming, has that twinkle, has that smile, and when he’s playing with those words, is a motherf*cker.”
All the Money in the World is in theaters now. Watch the trailer below.