The acclaimed director of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and now DC boss James Gunn woke up to a cold shower five years ago. Old Tweets filled with inappropriate statements from him bubbled to the surface and Disney was quick to bring out the hatchet. Because just a few days later he found himself out of work, fired, and as he described it, "I thought my career was over".
Now, we all know that things worked out for him in the end, and Marvel asked him to come back one last time to complete work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. And in an appearance on the Inside of You podcast James Gunn told us more about his feelings just after he was fired.
"For a beat there it was like, 'Holy Shit. I've been working my entire life to be loved by all of these people, by the world, so I can feel okay about myself. And everything I've worked for is gone. At that point, I thought that I was going to have to sell my house and move away, that my career was completely over. And for a brief moment, it was.
He went on to describe how friends and family rallied around him to offer help and support.
"Then I started to try to take care of myself, do the best I can. But the thing that was so amazing to me was, in that moment of lowness, when I couldn't help anyone, is when people came to me and showed me the greatest love. People like you, especially my future wife, Jen [Holland], my family, my mom and dad. You know, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, all of the Guardians. Zoe [Saldana] coming over and cooking me dinner. Sylvester Stallone. The amount of people that showed me love in a moment when I was completely weak."
James Gunn also mentioned how the situation ultimately felt liberating, a relief almost.
"It was just stunning to me, and I felt like for the first time in my life I felt loved. And so that thing I had been searching for my entire life, to feel loved from something outside of me, to make myself feel okay, I could not experience it until I let go of my desperation to receive it. That was when I felt truly okay."
Have you ever experienced a real ice bath that made you wake up or even completely change your life?