If you’re watching a James Gunn project, then you can bet your house on at least one or two names destined to appear.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 pretty much threw all of them into the mix by featuring Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Jennifer Holland, Michael Rooker, and several more in varying capacities, and it’s regularly been used as a stick to beat the DC Studios co-CEO over the head.
Of course, many of those crying foul and accusing him of nepotism seem to forget that Bruce Campbell is in everything Sam Raimi does, or that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese have in fact worked together before prior to Killers of the Flower Moon, to name but two prominent examples.
However, Gunn has taken a stand against claims he’s been single-handedly furthering his brother’s career, by pointing out in a recent interview with OneMan that Sean had a recurring gig on long-running and massively popular TV series Gilmore Girls long before he’d even directed his first feature film.
“It’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. My brother was in a TV show for seven years making much more money than I was making those days. Me and my brother have been making movies since I was 11. Saying that he is not a person that I know inside-out and that he’s not the best actor I have worked with, it would be ridiculous. They called me a nepotist because I worked with Steve Agee. He is a friend of mine of course, but he’s also the funniest guy I know. Chris Pratt is one of my best friends. He’s one of my groomsmen. It’s important for me to work with people that I know. The way that I can talk to them and we can communicate so openly, it’s part of the creative process. Anybody who makes movies will say this.“
The easiest thing to do would be to simply ignore the noise, but if you check Gunn’s social media accounts on any given day, you’ll find out that most definitely isn’t something he’s very good at. Ironically, he’s already cast his sibling in the rebranded DCU’s very first project, with the caveat he’ll be reprising the role of Weasel in Creature Commandos.