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X-Men: How Famke Janssen Kept Her Days of Future Past Cameo a Secret

Actress pops up again as Jean Grey in new installment of the superhero franchise

By Marc Malkin May 30, 2014 12:00 PMTags
Famke JanssenMarvel/Twentieth Century Fox

We're a bit surprised that Famke Janssen didn't let it slip that she shot a surprise cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

"I'm a terrible liar," Janssen told me yesterday on a break from shooting the third Taken film. "It was the same with Wolverine. I wasn't allowed to talk about that one at the time either. I guess you become good at lying. But honestly, I'm really bad at lying."

"The entire appearance was so hush hush," she added. "It was like, 'We have to find a way of getting you to the airport with no one seeing you.'"

While she doesn't know if this is the last of her X-Men appearances, Janssen admits she would have loved for Jean Grey/Phoenix to have her own spin-off flick.

"I wish we could have, but I'm not sure where they could take it after X-Men: The Last Stand, where they explore part of the Phoenix saga," she said. "I think it could have been made if that hadn't been done."

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Janssen will next be seen in Season 2 of her hit Netflix series Hemlock Grove. All 10 episodes will be available for viewing on July 11. She's also working on developing her second directing project, an adaptation of William Gaddis' 1975 novel J R.

Like her first time in the director's chair—2011's Bringing Up Bobby—Janssen will remain behind the camera for J R.

"I really think that it's so much harder for women to star and direct at the same time because we waste so much time in the makeup trailer. It's a sad reality," she said. "Whereas for men, they just show up and it's like, 'We love you just the way you are.' We have to go through a process of an hour and a half or however long it takes and then touch ups before and after lunch. It's too much time away from the camera. Maybe down the line I'll do some supporting part in my own movies, but right now I really need to focus on making the movies the way I want to make them."