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02nd Apr 2022

Morbius star on having all of his scenes cut from In Bruges: “It’s actually become my claim to fame”

Rory Cashin

‘The movie is pretty much perfect, it didn’t need me.’

It must be a unique feeling to have ALL of your scenes cut from your first time starring in a big movie.

It isn’t as if Matt Smith’s career has been faltering – between starring as the titular Doctor Who in 2010, to playing Prince Philip in two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown, to big roles in Terminator: Genisys, Last Night In Soho and the upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel show House Of The Dragon.

But before all of that, way back in 2008, Smith was cast in In Bruges, playing a younger version of Harry Waters during flashback sequences, who is played by Ralph Fiennes for the rest of the movie.

Then, when the movie arrived, all of his scenes had been cut from the finished product.

We recently caught up with Smith during the run-up to the release of Marvel’s latest blockbuster Morbius, and you can check out that interview in full right here:

During the chat, we had to ask Smith about those scenes from what many people consider to be the best Irish film ever made.

Smith told us the following:

“Yeah, well, there you are. It’s actually become my claim to fame. And, yeah, he’s one of the greats, isn’t he, Martin [McDonagh]? I’ve just worked with his brother John [Michael McDonagh] actually, who is fabulous as well.

“I never made the cut, but the thing is, the movie is pretty much perfect. You don’t need it. You know how mad Ralph [Fiennes] is anyway. So, actually, I think there were three scenes in the end.

“But [Martin] wrote me a really lovely letter on squared paper, and I really appreciated that.”

Morbius is available in Irish cinemas right now. You can also check out our interview with Smith’s co-star Jared Leto right here:

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