Director confirms Sienna Miller cut from ‘Black Mass’

“Black Mass” director Scott Cooper confirmed that actress Sienna Miller has been cut from the film. In an interview this week with the Globe, Cooper said that Miller was “fantastic” opposite Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger’s girlfriend Catherine Greig, but that when it came time to edit, he had to narrow the scope of the story.

“It came down to narrative choices,” Cooper said.

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Miller was spotted shooting scenes for “Black Mass” in Quincy last July. Last November, while on tour to promote her film “American Sniper,” she told the Globe that she had worked with a dialect coach to perfect her Boston accent for the local project. “Up until the day before I flew here, I couldn’t do it and it sounded stupid,” she said. “And I was sort of religiously watching every film ever set in South Boston: ‘Good Will Hunting,’ ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ ‘The Town.’ Catherine had a thick accent, so I hope I do it justice.”

Cooper explained that he decided to focus on Bulger’s life before he left Boston, and that the gangster’s years as a fugitive with Greig were “less dramatic.”

“Black Mass” has its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Friday, and will be released in theaters Sept. 18. Stars of the film will be in town Sept. 15 for a private screening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.