The 82-year-old film director speaks out on the president’s handling of the crisis and says Boris Johnson should bring back rationing

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator and The Martian, has taken aim at Donald Trump and Boris Johnson over their leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to Variety from his home in Los Angeles, Scott, 82, said he thought “this orange-headed fellow that’s running us” is “a nutcase, isn’t he”?

Looking more widely, Scott suggested that half the world’s leaders were “idiots” and the other half “despots”. “There are very few worthwhile ones,” he said. “If anyone has half a brain, they wouldn’t want to go into politics anyway, right?”

Scott, who was born shortly before the second world war, suggested that countries, the UK in particular, should reintroduce rationing because “people are buying so much food and then the food is rotting”.

He continued: “Jesus, Boris, get out your thinking cap, cos what we’re now talking on is an iPhone: a perfect coupon distributor to limit what you can buy each time you go to the shops. And that way, you have order. You must have order and calm.”

At the time of the shutdown, Scott was shooting The Last Duel, a drama set in medieval France, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. He remains hopeful filming can resume later this year.

Scott also said the disparity in the quality of coronavirus coverage across the US news networks was “insane”.

“I still think CNN’s the best, and they are in dismay at how it’s not being handled properly.”

Scott reiterated the advice for people to remain in their own homes, saying: “It’ll be an experience of mild to severe flu for most people and old geezers like me have gotta watch my back.”