When ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ hit theaters, we all knew that many cast members from the original trilogy would be returning in some capacity. However, no one saw the surprise cameos from Cyclops and Jean Grey at the end of the film coming. Not only did both characters perish in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, but James Marsden and Famke Janssen adamantly denied their involvement in the film last year as rumors circulated about potential resurrections, so everyone just let it go. Then, once Wolverine walked through the halls of the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, audiences were pleasantly surprised to see them return after Logan had changed the course of history. Now, Janssen opens up about keeping that secret and the joys of returning to the world of the X-Men.

In a recent interview with Super Hero Hype, the actress revealed that she had already shot her appearance in ‘Days of Future Past’ when she last spoke to the publication about ‘The Wolverine’, where she also makes a surprise appearance. She also talked about how hard it was for her to keep that secret:

“I’m a really good liar it turns out. By then I’d already filmed it. I was sworn to secrecy that’s all. I’m not really keen on lying and I have a lot of problem with people who come into my life and lie, but if I’m forced to do it, it does not come easy. There has been two moments now, with ‘Wolverine’ and with ‘X-Men’ movies, especially ‘Days of Future Past’ where I was sworn to secrecy so I kept my word.”

Then she talks about the vibe on set when she was reunited with her X-Men co-stars:

“They were deep into filming when they approached me. I had run into James Marsden at various film festivals with films, and we’ve bumped into one another, but I don’t get to see Patrick [Stewart] or any of them as often or frequently as I want to, so whenever we’re on set together, it’s sort of like a family reunion.”

Finally, Janssen comments on why she enjoys returning to play Jean Grey whenever she can:

“That’s generally what I find wonderful about these X-Men characters, that there are as many female characters are there male, which doesn’t seem to be the case most of the time, I find. A lot of these comic book adaptations aren’t necessarily like that a lot of the time—the women’s parts are essentially the girlfriends or whatever—so it’s really nice to play the scientist, doctor or a strong interesting character. And then we have to really focus on the love story part of it on Wolverine and Jean Grey, and it keeps giving something, especially because it supposedly can’t go anywhere, so it becomes even more fun to play around with it. That’s thanks to Bryan Singer. He set it up as a universe full of interesting strong women.”

Now that the timeline has been fixed and we know that she likes playing Jean, maybe we’ll see more of Famke Janssen in future installments of the franchise. Until then, did you enjoy seeing her in ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’? If she were to pop up again in the future, how do you think it would happen? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.