Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock
In a previous statement to PEOPLE, Young said the situationwas essentially a misunderstanding— an explanation the film’s producers dismissed.
The original article about the burglary report is below. It was published on Aug. 10.
ActressSean Youngis “wanted for questioning” in connection with a report of a Thursday burglary in New York City, PEOPLE confirms.
But sources tell PEOPLE exclusively that the full story is much stranger: Young — whose career heyday of the ’80s souredamid a series of on-set issues— allegedly broke into the office of a film on which she had been slated to make her directorial debut before being fired this summer after clashing with the producers.
According to one of the film’s producers, she allegedly took two MacBook Pro laptops that had production software on them.
“This was a big slap in my face. I try to help as much people as I can,” says comedian Greg Kritikos, the co-writer, star and a producer of the upcoming dramedyCharlie Boy, which Young was initially hired to direct.
However, Young, 58, was terminated from the production about two months ago and Timothy Hines was brought in to replace her, according to executive producer Dominick Martini.
PEOPLE’s efforts to reach Young directly for comment were unsuccessful on Friday and requests for comment sent to a listed representative were not immediately returned.
It was Kritikos who first connected Young with Martini and suggested she direct the movie, about a reformed mobster, which has largely shot around Queen’s Astoria neighborhood. Young was hired around April, according to one source connected to the film.
“I believed that she had changed her life,” he says.
Elisa Leonelli/REX/Shutterstock
But workplace issues soon arose, according to Kritikos, who describes Young as out of her directorial depth. The film cut ties with her within weeks of announcing that she had been hired.
Afterward, she repeatedly said she was going to return to the office in Queens to get some of her belongings, according to Kritikos — but she never showed.
Then, somehow on Thursday, “miraculously” she got into the office and took the laptops, he says. However, she did not take any of the related equipment, including necessary cords and mouses. Hard drives containing the film’s footage were also apparently untouched.
An N.Y.C. police spokesperson would only confirm that Young is being sought in connection with the burglary of a business in Queens in which two laptops were stolen. However, the address of the film’s production office matches the address where the police spokesperson said the burglary occurred.
A police source further confirms to PEOPLE that Young was captured on video during the burglary and charges are probable. “They want to talk to her,” the source says.
A man was recorded with Young during the burglary, according to TMZ,which first reported news of the incident.
Asked if they believe the burglary was some kind of revenge, Kritikos and Martini say it would be speculation on their part.
“Whatever she’s doing, she took property that did not belong to her,” Kritikos says.
Martini adds: “None of us have any idea what went through that person’s head. … If you’re asking me, Did she just want to hurt us? What would you think?”
Courtesy Penny Landau
Kritikos says he texted Young after learning of the burglary — writing, in part, “contact me ASAP so we can handle this wisely” — and others involved with the film also reached out, but no one has gotten a response.
Thursday’s burglary is not Young’s first brush with bad press: After appearing in a string of high-profile films in the ’80s, includingBlade RunnerandNo Way Out, she was originally cast as Bruce Wayne’s love interest in Tim Burton’s 1989Batman. But she was replaced when she was injured during filming, though she later publicly lobbied, while in costume, for the role of Catwoman in the sequel, which ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer.
Young later appeared inA Kiss Before Dyingand Jim Carrey’sAce Ventura: Pet Detective, in 1991 and 1994.
Her career in recent decades, however, has a much lower profile as she retreated into “self-retirement,” according to a news release in May announcing her involvement inCharlie Boy.
Young also appeared inTNT’s seriesThe Alienistearlier this year, which stars Dakota Fanning.
“I like living in the desert, and now because I don’t show up in Hollywood, people think I am really scary, and it’s hilarious,” she said at the time. “I hope they continue to say I’m fierce and Catwomanish, you know — how wonderful. Right now I’m trying to think of the next thing I can bubble up into the press, something to keep the paparazzi waiting breathlessly.”
More than 20 years later,in anotherEWprofile, in 2008, Young sounded almost resigned.
“I don’t really like doing interviews. I’m so easy to make sound bad, but what are you going to do that hasn’t been done to me already? Who’s going to f— me over any more than they already have?”
source: people.com
