This post might only be for hardcore geeks like us, but oh well, we’re friggin’ completists for better or worse and these are the answers to the kinds of questions we always have. Some of you hardcore “Inglourious Basterds” fans may have noticed a post we wrote a week or two ago that said, great French actress Isabelle Huppert was allegedly “fired” from Quentin Tarantino’s WWII epic because she was supposedly half-heartedly into the role (Madame Mimieux, an elderly French woman who owns a cinematheque that comes into key play later in the story), and was showing up to auditions late. According to the French press/tabloids, Huppert wasn’t exactly signed on the dotted line, but Tarantino has expresely wanted her for the role. After dealing with her allegedly “diva” behavior, QT got pissed and yanked her from potentially appearing in the film (to everyone’s knowledge, M. Mimieux’s role still hasn’t been cast, but rumors are still calling for Cathrien Deneuve; a very excellent choice)
Well, apparently the story caused such a stir in France that Huppert has responded and defended herself. Huppert says he had never committed to the role in ‘IB’ and denies had she missed, or was late to any meetings or rendezvous with the director. At one point it was suggested that Huppert wasn’t “enthusiastic” enough for QT and when he offered her the role she took too long to get back to him. Something else she denies. The offer wasn’t apparently up to snuff because, “an agreement on the terms of the offer were not reached” (paraphrasing, but that’s the gist). Essentially, according to the article anyhow, Tarantino had expected her to meet with the cast for a cast reading, but she didn’t show up because her deal had not been reached yet. An overly-enthusiastic Tarantino might have been working under the assumption that all actors were taking their roles without thinking of all these financial considerations.
Meanwhile, a separate article, notes what happened to actress Anne-Sophie Franck. At one point it was rumored (or thought to be truth), that Franck was to play Francesca Mondino – the French translator that works for the Nazis (it was “completely erroneous information” evidently). The role went to Julie Dreyfus (Sophie Fatale from “Kill Bill”) and then many assumed Franck was let go or had actually not scored a part in the film. Well, it turns out she does have a role in the film, albeit a small one. Franck, play a barmaid named Mathilda. In the original script her character doesn’t even really have a name or lines, but from what we gather, there’s been a re-write and smaller characters have been thrown a bone or two. Whether that ends up on screen or not is another story. The script is already 165 pages long and which is almost three hours long.
PS, Sophie Anne Frank is the cute barmaiden. She has like a line or two at best.