Laura Harrier’s role in Fahrenheit 451 was cut from the final version of the HBO film. Harrier, who is in Cannes for Black KkKlansman, revealed the fate of her role to The Wrap.
The actress, who starred last in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, would have had the rare distinction of starring in two Cannes films in one year.
Harrier was supposed to play the wife of Michael B. Jordan’s character Guy Montag, but the character was trimmed from the adaptation due to time.
“The character definitely has a big part in the book, but because of the length of the film, (director Ramin Bahrani) decided they needed to change the storyline and the structure of the film,” she said. “And unfortunately my character didn’t fit with the storyline. It’s something you always hope doesn’t happen, but I’m not the first it’s happened to, and I definitely won’t be the last.”
In the book, Montag’s wife, Mildred, was symbolic of Montag’s emotionally dead life before he awoke to understand the ramifications of his actions as a fireman who burns books. Mildred is often depressed, susceptible to society’s overwhelming beauty standards and reflects society’s blandness back to Montag the longer they remain married. The character could have been a fantastic role for Harrier to dig into. It’s unfortunate that her performance has been removed from the film.
You will be able to see Harrier in BlacKkKlansman when it comes to theaters August 10. Fahrenheit 451 will air on HBO May 19 at 10 p.m. ET.