Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Bryan Singer (born 17 September 1965; age 58) is a film and television director and producer who played the uncredited part of Lieutenant Kelly in Star Trek Nemesis.

A fan of Star Trek, he got this small cameo role due to his association with Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart, whom he directed in the Marvel Comics superhero films X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). He also directed Famke Janssen, Rebecca Romijn, and Bruce Davison in these films.

Singer was the subject of a short hidden special feature while he was filming his Nemesis scenes, which was included on the 2005 Star Trek Nemesis (Special Edition) DVD as an "Easter egg".

According to the Internet Movie Database, Singer's character was named "Kelly," though there is no official source to confirm this name as it is unspoken in the final cut of the film.

In 2005, Singer, The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie and Robert Meyer Burnett discussed their own Star Trek TV show after the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. The 25-page series proposal by Burnett and Geoffrey Thorne, Star Trek: Federation, was set in the year 3000 and in age of decline for the Federation. The plan was for Singer's Bad Harry Productions to produce the show, with a pilot written by McQuarrie and directed by Singer. Burnett would be executive producer. The pitch, completed in January 2006, was never given to CBS as Paramount had announced it was collaborating with J.J. Abrams on Star Trek. [1] Singer commented he would turn down directing a Star Trek film, stating he would be too "precious" with the universe. [2]

Career[]

Born in New York City, Singer was adopted as a child and received a Jewish upbringing in New Jersey. After graduating from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (South), he studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, New York, followed by the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California. Openly gay, he has credited his experiences as a minority with influencing his work that followed.

Singer first gained attention for directing the highly-praised 1995 thriller The Usual Suspects, which featured Jack Shearer among its cast members. He went on to direct Apt Pupil, featuring Bruce Davison, before acquiring possibly his greatest fame with the first two X-Men films.

After his Star Trek proposal came to naught, Singer chose to write, produce and direct Superman Returns instead of the third X-Men film, which became X-Men: The Last Stand. Both films were released in the summer of 2006. Superman Returns stars Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actor Frank Langella as Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet. The film did not gross enough to make a profit and to greenlight a sequel, and Singer moved on and reunited with McQuarrie to direct Valkyrie in 2008, starring Tom Cruise as Claus von Stauffenberg. Singer produced X-Men: First Class, a 2011 prequel to his X-Men films, and reunited with Stewart for the 2014 sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film includes a clip of William Shatner in "The Naked Time", referencing the time travel in the episode.

On two separate occasions, in 2001 and 2009, Singer became deeply involved with the attempts of reviving the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, neither of which having come to fruition – in the first case because it was decided to proceed with Ronald D. Moore's take on that franchise. [3]; "Bryan Singer to direct 'Battlestar' film", The Hollywood Reporter, 13 August 2009)

Singer's production company, Bad Hat Harry Productions, produced the hit TV series House, and he occasionally directed episodes for the series, including the pilot. Jennifer Morrison was a regular on the series, playing Dr. Allison Cameron. Singer also directed the 2013 fantasy adventure Jack the Giant Slayer, and his fourth X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016 – the sequel to the 2014 film, and in which he again included a clip from the Original Series, this time from "Who Mourns for Adonais?" that actually fitted the overall false god theme of the film.

In 2017, Singer worked as director on the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, however, he was fired from the production in December of that year, after being at constant odds with lead actor Rami Malek, and being absent from the set several times. He was replaced by Dexter Fletcher. Singer was also assigned to direct a remake of Red Sonja, however this project was scrapped.

Since 1997, Singer has been accused several times for sexually assaulting minors, and several lawsuits were filed against him, eventually dropped. In a 2019 investigative report in The Atlantic, four men have claimed that Singer sexually assaulted them when they were underage. Singer denies all allegations.

External links[]

Advertisement