Oliver Stone calls Putin ‘a very refined individual who speaks quietly’

The Oscar-winning director rose to fame for his work on legendary films that include Scarface, Platoon, Wall Street and JFK.

Known for his positive remarks about the Russian leader in the past – after 2017’s The Putin Interviews release – Oliver, 76, repeated words of praise while chatting about his new flick. 

Despite criticising some of his actions during the ongoing Ukraine war, the filmmaker let it be known he admired the Russian dictator’s ‘refined’ manner in a recent interview. 

He said of his 30-hour interview special featuring Putin: ‘At that time, Putin was the so-called enemy and our theory was, “Let’s know the enemy”.’ 

‘They get an actor who does his voice as a gruff, growly Russian bear, which he’s not – he’s the opposite. A very refined individual who speaks quietly, reasonably.’

However, the A-lister admitted his fond words and film about the leader made seeking funding for his new film about nuclear energy an arduous task. 

Alongside the presumed damage his Putin sympathising did to his reputation as a director, Oliver cited Netflix-like content as a roadblock when looking for support for his documentary.

He explained: ‘Killers are what’s popular. The Tiger series [Tiger King]. 

‘But they don’t take the kind of subject matter that is geopolitically important. I think there’s a bias, and I think they’re worried about the entertainment value on nuclear issues. You know – “Where is the star?”’

The creative went on to say about the film’s eventual funding: ‘When we were doing the film, it was very difficult to finance, because of the bad reputation of nuclear, and the missing information. 

‘People didn’t want to even listen to what we had to say. But now, because of scientific evidence, things are starting to tip.’

Nuclear Now is due to be released in the UK later this year. 

Metro.co.uk contacted Oliver’s reps for comment. 

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