Armie Hammer thanked Italian director Luca Guadagnino for supporting him when he faced a r*pe and other s*xual harassment allegations. Guadagnino and Hammer have worked together in the 2017 film, Call Me By Your Name.
Speaking on a recent episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Armie Hammer credited Luca Guadagnino for standing by him when he faced the sexual abuse allegations back in 2021, despite the risk of facing consequences.
“Luca Guadagnino has also been vocally supportive, which is something that I could not appreciate more. But at the same time, I’m also well aware that it is a precarious situation right now, and anyone who vocalizes support comes under fire. I understand that my situation was inflammatory, and anyone who gets too close might also light on fire.”
Armie Hammer was accused of r*pe and sexual abuse in 2021 but was never charged with his alleged crimes. The LAPD cleared him after a two-and-a-half-year-long investigation.
Guadagnino has always spoken highly of Hammer, including when he rubbished claims that his cannibal film Bones and All was related to the allegations against the actor. The director said in a 2022 interview with Variety,
“It [Bones and All] was to be directed by my great colleague Antonio Campos, but he decided not to go for it. That’s when they gave me the script. Any correlation with this kind of innuendo [Armie Hammer's cannibalism allegations] and silliness is preposterous.”
In 2022, the director said he would still cast Arnie in a potential sequel to Call Me By Your Name. He told Variety that any follow-up would "of course" include Hammer's character Oliver.
Luca Guadagnino is an Italian director, producer, and screenwriter who's known by fans for his artistic style of cinema and the exploration of complex human emotions. Some of his best films include the Desire trilogy, comprising I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Suspiria (2018). Guadagnino has received multiple Academy Award nominations for his work. His last release was Challengers (2024).
Luca Guadagnino is best known for his Desire Trilogy set in Italy
Luca Guadagnino was born in Palermo, Italy, to an Algerian mother and a Sicilian father. Although he spent a considerable amount of time in Ethiopia as a child, their family shifted to Palermo in 1977.
Guadagnino began his career by directing documentaries and short films. In 1999, he directed his first feature film, The Protagonists. His debut film marked the first of his many collaborations with actress Tilda Swinton. Guadagnino's next film Mellisa P released in 2005, based on the book Melissa Panarello.
Luca Guadagnino received much acclaim for his popular Desire trilogy, featuring three films: I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015) and Call Me By Your Name (2017). The three films deal with unique topics but are all set in Italy, owing to the director's roots and influence.
In all three films, Luca Guadagnino explores the age-old debate between tradition and spontaneity as the three defining films of his career deal with desire and its conflict with established societal values.
The third film in his desire trilogy, Call Me By Your Name, is arguably the most famous of the three. Guadagnino received immense critical acclaim for the romantic drama based on Andre Ociman's novel of the same name.
Call Me By Your Name follows the story of 17-year-old teenager Elio and 24-year-old archaeology student Oliver, who delve into a same-s*x romantic relationship throughout the summer.
The film deals with themes of acceptance, s*xual orientation, coming-of-age, and the passion for creative pursuits. The romantic drama marked Guadagnino's first collaboration with actor Timothée Chalamet. It was nominated in the Best Picture category at the Oscars.
Speaking to Criterion about Call Me By Your Name and the directors who influenced Luca Guadagnino while making the film, the director said,
"I reflected on the lessons of people like Jean Renoir, Maurice Pialat, and Bernardo Bertolucci—three directors who, in a way, are completely in line with one another."
Guadagnino's other two films in the Desire trilogy also deal with topics of societal conflict, much like his critically acclaimed third one. I Am Love explores the story of a Russian immigrant called Emma, who marries an Italian aristocratic family. She begins an affair with one of her son's friends, a chef.
In A Bigger Splash, Luca Guadagnino deals with the complicated nature of human relationships. It tells the story of how a rockstar and her husband's vacation is interrupted by a couple of unexpected people from their past.
Following the Desire trilogy, Guadagnino experimented with the horror genre with a remake of Suspiria (2018) and Bones and All (2022) before moving on to the romantic sports drama film, Challengers, starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor. The film was a success at the box office and received positive reviews from critics and fans.