As the Hollywood actress appeared to give testimony in the £4 million legal dispute, the High Court heard that Eva Green “would sooner eat tumors” than shoot a disastrous sci-fi movie.
Before the production of A Patriot was halted in October 2019, the 42-year-old Casino Royale actor was slated to star in it.
She is now suing film production firm White Lantern Films, claiming that despite the movie’s cancellation, she is still entitled to her $1 million (£810,000) fee. She claims that she is unjustly being portrayed as a “diva.”
In defending the lawsuit and filing a complaint against the French actress, White Lantern Films claims that she made “unreasonable demands” and interfered with the film’s production.
Ms. Green, who this morning in London’s January weather was sporting black sunglasses and a green velvet jacket, is anticipated to testify this afternoon.
The court was informed today that, prior to the project’s cancellation, one of the film’s producers said that Eva Green “would sooner eat tumours” than do the movie.
The French actress who portrayed Vesper Lynd in the James Bond thriller “Casino Royale” is suing the film’s producers for the $1 million payment she claims she is due for the role of “A Patriot.”
Dan Pringle, the writer and director of the movie, testified this morning. He questioned him about a text message he had sent when Jake Seal would have had “total control” over the movie’s finance.
Last Monday, Ms. Green told the High Court head that Mr. Seal, an executive producer, planned to create a “cheap B movie,” calling him “the devil” and “evil.”
In a message, Mr. Pringle said that he, Ms. Green, and producer Adam Merrifield were debating whether or not they “want to continue with the new structure,” but added that they would all rather eat tumors at this time.
I regret saying that, since I shouldn’t be speaking on behalf of Adam and Eva, he stated when we spoke about it today.
On Monday, the third day of the trial in London, the French actress is scheduled to testify in the case.
Max Mallin KC, for White Lantern, said at the beginning of the trial on Thursday that Ms. Green had “animosity” toward a vision Jake Seal, one of the film’s executive producers, had for it.
The lawyer claimed that Ms Green called local crew workers “sh***y peasants… from Hampshire” and her production manager Terry Bird a “f****** fool” in correspondence with her agency and the film’s director.
The legal dispute, according to Ms. Green’s attorney Edmund Cullen KC, was “intended to present my client as a diva to garner headlines and ruin her image,” he said.
Later, Mr. Cullen said that the texts “must be understood in context” of discussions over the purchase of the script’s rights.
The actress “worked over herself” to create the movie, Mr. Cullen said, calling it a “passion project,” but “the financial strategy was never going to work.”
Ms. Green anticipated starting her testimony in the late afternoon. The trial goes on.
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