Green Room Director Says Patrick Stewart Saved the Film Before His Death

Jeremy Saulnier says Patrick Stewart's casting saved Green Room when the production was close to shutting down. He made the remark at the film's 10th-anniversary screening in Los Angeles on Friday, 30 October, according to Variety. Stewart had died the day before, on Thursday 29 October, at the age of 86.

Stewart played Darcy Banker, a skinhead leader, in the 2015 thriller that Saulnier wrote and directed. Saulnier told The Hollywood Reporter that the crew was already building sets when the role was still uncast. He said nobody had been cast as Darcy Banker when the production reached what he called the point of no return.

Stewart then expressed interest out of the blue, Saulnier said. About a week later the two spoke by phone. Once Stewart said yes, the film was greenlit, meaning approved to go ahead, almost at once.

Saulnier had made a similar point in 2016. In an interview with Variety that year, he said Stewart "swooped in to save the day" by adding value to the investment financiers were putting forward for the film. At the 2026 screening, he said he had left the stage thinking the production might have to take down its sets and close the whole project.

Saulnier said he had come to the event to promote his film Slayground. He decided to celebrate Stewart instead. He described the actor as a sweetheart, a true gentleman and a kind leader to the Green Room cast. He also recalled that Stewart asked his permission to add a profanity during a camera move in one scene. Saulnier said Stewart is the reason he can still make movies.

Stewart was a Shakespearean actor who became one of the best-known faces of television and film. He was best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. He died at his home in Los Angeles after a brief battle with Alzheimer's and Lewy Body Dementia, according to a statement on his Instagram account.

His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, announced his death. Reuters reported the death on 29 October, with a story by Will Dunham.

For many people, the Green Room story is a reminder that a film can depend on a single decision. A late casting choice, made after a phone call, changed the course of one production. Saulnier's tribute put that moment at the centre of the anniversary night.