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Michael Shannon fell asleep during Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

While watching, not acting, that is

Christopher Hooton
Tuesday 15 November 2016 12:29 GMT
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We’ve all been there. You’re three movies into a long haul flight, the tiny bottles of red wine have started to hit and you’re on the verge of a cruelly short nap.

Why then, would you stick on the 151-minute, stern-faced onslaught that is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

That’s what actor Michael Shannon did on a recent trip, when he decided to finally actually watch the movie he featured in for the first time.

Asked if he’d seen it in an interview with Fandango, the Nocturnal Animals star said: “You’re gonna get me in trouble, man! People ask me about this all the time.

"Okay, I’ll tell you the god’s honest truth. Zack [Snyder] is gonna kill me for this – he’s gonna kill me. I watched it once and I fell asleep."

Sunned by his admission, the interviewer repeated it back to him.

“I know, I know... I was on an international flight and I was tired,” Shannon explained.

You can’t blame the guy, the critically-panned film being a good half an hour too long (some might say 151 minutes too long).

Shannon added that he’s not really keen to do more big franchises anytime soon, that he recently turned one down, and that he only took the Man of Steel films because he genuinely believed there was an interesting story there.

“I thought it was relevant,” he insisted. “It was about a civilization that destroys the planet they live on and goes looking for another one. Ring any bells?

“That’s why I did it. I didn’t do it because I felt I needed a big comic book franchise - I honestly thought it was a beautiful story.”

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