(London) French actress Eva Green finds herself at the heart of a legal battle in the United Kingdom to claim her fee despite the cancellation of a film, her lawyer believing Thursday that the production company is trying to pass her off as a diva “.
The 42-year-old French actress, star of Casino Royale in 2006, was to star in the science fiction film A Patriot before production was finally halted in October 2019.
She is suing the production company, White Lantern Films, to reclaim her $1 million fee for the film, despite its cancellation.
But the British production company decided to counterattack by launching its own legal action against the actress, believing that she had made “unreasonable demands” and damaged the production of the film.
The trial, which began on Thursday, is expected to last eight days. Eva Green is expected to take the stand on Monday.
The actress’ lawyer, Edmund Cullen, told the judges that Mme Green “bent over backwards” to make the project happen because it dealt with an “issue that is very much on her mind, which is climate catastrophe”.
But the lawyers of White Lantern Films estimate on the contrary that the French actress expressed “a lack of confidence and a dissatisfaction” with regard to members of the production team. She was “increasingly reluctant to get involved”, in violation of the contract.
Eva Green had “a vitriolic aversion to making the movie that White Lantern could and was going to make,” production attorney Max Mallin said. According to him, there was a “split between Eva Green’s expectations and the film she wanted to make and what the budget allowed”.
The production councils justify their accusations by relying on WhatsApp messages in which Eva Green allegedly called a member of the team “evil”, “devious sociopath”, “liar and crazy”. She also reportedly called production manager Terry Bird a “moron” and “a finished asshole.”
Messages that must be read in the context of negotiations for the purchase of the rights to the script to make a different film, assured his lawyer.
“This case is designed to portray my client as a diva in order to grab headlines and damage her reputation,” Cullen said, calling the charges against Eva Green “extraordinary.”
“She agreed several times to postpone the start of the shooting. She agreed to have the production moved from Ireland to the UK. She has repeatedly offered to use part of her fees to fund production costs,” he listed in his written submissions.
For him, White Lantern Films wants to “blacken the name of an actress who has not violated a contract or missed a day of filming during a 20-year career”.