When 2021 began, the future looked bright for Armie Hammer. The Call Me by Your Name actor was fresh off of starring in Netflix’s Rebecca, and along with having three movies already completed, he was gearing up for a number of other projects. But then Hammer was caught in a wave of controversy, and now he’s dropped out of most of, if not all, the projects he had lined up.
Back in March 2020, Armie Hammer was supposed to star in a play called The Minutes that was expected to open on Broadway, with Armie Hammer attached as one of the lead actors. Unfortunately, those plans were scrapped by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Broadway still hasn’t opened back up over a year later. As things stand now, The Minutes is preparing to resume production for the 2021-2022 season, but Hammer will no longer star in it. Here’s what the actor said in a statement to Variety about exiting the stage production:
I have loved every single second of working on The Minutes with the family I made from Steppenwolf. But right now I need to focus on myself and my health for the sake of my family. Consequently, I will not be returning to Broadway with the production.
The Minutes, which is directed by Anna Shapiro, debuted back in 2017 from the Steppnwolf Theatre Company, and the story follows the inner workings of a city council meeting in the small town of Big Cherry when a newcomer shows up to start asking the wrong questions. Armie Hammer previously worked with Shapiro in the 2018 Broadway production of Straight White Men, but they won’t be collaborating for a second time after all. There’s no word yet on who will take over Hammer’s role when The Minutes does finally get up and running.
With this, Armie Hammer’s professional schedule is much clearer, as the actor has also exited the roles he had lined up for the big screen. Leaving The Minutes is just the latest in the fallout that’s unfolded in the last several months tied to the various scandals surrounding the actor. Back in January, texts allegedly from Hammer were leaked online that showed him expressing interest in sexual cannibalism and other violent fantasies. Several months later, it was reported that Hammer accidentally sent explicit text messages intended for someone else to his now estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers.
Although Armie Hammer initially denied that the leaked texts came from him, Hammer ended up dropping out of Shotgun Wedding, the action rom-com that would have seen him starring opposite Jennifer Lopez. Jupiter’s Legacy actor Josh Duhamel has since been recast in Hammer’s place. Soon after that, Hammer departed the Paramount+ limited series The Offer, where he was going to play The Godfather producer Al Ruddy. The talent agency WME also dropped Hammer as a client.
As of last month, Armie Hammer is now under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department for sexual assault after a woman stated that the actor “violently raped” her and repeatedly banged her head against a wall in 2017. A little over a week after those allegations came out, Hammer left the final movie on his slate, Billion Dollar Spy, a Cold War drama also starring Mads Mikkelsen. It’s also worth mentioning that Hammer has exited the Starz series Gaslit and been replaced by Beauty and the Beast’s Dan Stevens, although in that instance, his departure wasn’t directly tied to the allegations surrounding him.
So as things stand now, Armie Hammer only has two completed movies left to be released: Next Goal Wins and Death on the Nile. Beyond that, it’s hard to say when we’ll next see him act in something, if at all. We’ll keep you posted on Hammer’s professional and personal lives should any major developments unfold.
