Actor Hugo Speer said he was in “deep and massive shock” after his contract for the series terminated.
This is rather unexpected news. Hugo Speer, known for his role in the film The Full Monty, explains why he believes he was unfairly excluded from the Disney + series which follows the famous 1997 film.
The actor starred as Guy in the cult film which followed six unemployed metalworkers performing a male strip act. Decades later, he is one of the original actors who will reprise their role in the series, expected on June 14 on Disney+.
But that all changed when Disney announced that Hugo Speer’s contract had been terminated for “inappropriate conduct” while filming in Manchester, England.
In an interview with the DailyMail, Hugo Speer explained that a young woman with the function of “runner” in English – the equivalent of a courier – with some experience on film sets, had knocked on the door of his caravan when he was changing. And although he claims he told her to wait a minute, she opened the door anyway.
The actor says he hid behind a wardrobe and can’t understand why she didn’t leave when she realized he was changing. A few days later, Hugo Speer says a producer pulled him aside on set and said, “There have been some complaints about you“.
Surprised, he replied:What ? In 31 years, I’ve never had a single complaint about my driving“. The actor says that the producer would then have said to him: “We saw you undressed in your trailer.“After Hearing Himself Say”that I had made the team members uncomfortable“, Hugo Speer said to himself”shocked“.
“I tried to remember the runner, but she hadn’t said anything since she opened the door when she fell on top of me.“, he added. “No ‘it was a bit awkward’. Nothing. We just kept doing our job.“
He ended up being sent home for several weeks, hoping that everything would work out, but Hugo Speer states that after an investigation his character was removed from the rest of the series and he was fired.
According to a copy of an investigative report he received, the actor says he was accused of being seen undressed in his trailer by a costume trainee, who complained about the seen walking naked near an open door in his trailer.
Since being dropped from the project, Hugo Speer has not worked. “It was tragicomic, but they didn’t realize how affected I was“, said the actor. “I suffered a huge and profound shock. As you can see, I’m still a little there“.
After all that, the actor revealed that he was also battling depression and struggling with his mental health. He added : “They took my job away. They took my reputation. They took my money. They took my sanity“.
A Disney spokesperson told the HollywoodReporter : “Last year, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate behavior by Hugo Speer on the set of The Full Monty. As policy dictates, an independent investigation has been launched. At the end of this, the decision was taken to terminate his contract, with immediate effect.“
The actor is indeed absent from the trailer for the series, revealed last May.