'Indiana Jones' star Karen Allen says she was 'disappointed' by her lack of screen time in 'Dial of Destiny': 'I had thought that I would be majorly a part of the film'
- "Indiana Jones" star Karen Allen makes a brief cameo at the end of the new film "Dial of Destiny."
- Allen told The Hollywood Reporter that she was "disappointed" as she thought she would have a larger role.
"Indiana Jones" star Karen Allen said she was "disappointed" that she had limited screen time in the latest film in the franchise, "Dial of Destiny."
Allen joined the franchise as Marion Ravenwood in the first film "Raiders of the Lost Ark." In the fourth film, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," it was revealed that Marion had years ago given birth to Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), the biological son of lead character Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), unbeknownst to Jones. Marion and Jones ultimately reunited and married at the end of that movie.
LaBeouf was absent from the recently released fifth movie, which explained that Mutt's off-screen death in the Vietnam War had caused Marion and Jones to drift apart once again.
Allen told The Hollywood Reporter that she was surprised to find out that her only appearance in "Dial of Destiny" was at the end of the movie where Marion and Jones are able to reconcile after the conclusion of his latest adventure with Phoebe Waller-Bridge's new character, Helena Shaw.
Allen said that Marion was "much more involved" in the story when the franchise's creator Steven Spielberg was in charge before "Dial of Destiny" director James Mangold took over.
"When Steven was still going to direct the film, I didn't have the opportunity to read any of those scripts, although I know that Marion was much more involved in the story at that juncture," Allen said. "So I knew James had hired new writers and that there was going to be a whole new approach with a new director and new writers, but I was really going into the unknown."
She continued: "The next thing I knew, I was reading a script that told [Dial of Destiny's] story, and of course, I was disappointed. I had thought that I would be majorly a part of the film, and that was just not the direction they decided to go."
Allen said that she thinks the writers had a difficult time explaining LaBeouf's absence while including Marion in the main story.
"I think they had some problems to solve with the story in terms of Shia LaBeouf not coming back, and they chose to create this story that Mutt had been killed in the war and that it put a wedge between Marion and Indy," Allen said. "I mean, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I read it. But I was really happy that they came back together in the end."
Mangold told Variety last month that there wasn't enough space to include Mutt in the story. As well as bringing back old "Raiders of the Lost Ark" stars John Rhys-Davies and Allen, the series introduces new stars to the franchise such as Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen.
"I think the point I had was that when I came on, I wanted to capture that wonderful energy between Indy and an intrepid female character," the director said. "So that was my first goal, and there's only so many people you can edge into a picture."
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is now in theaters.