The imperious Eva Green
(Picture: Kevin Winter / Getty Images)Eva Green is headed to court this week as part of a legal dispute over a film project which never saw the light of day.
The 42-year-old former Bond girl has befallen the curse of nearly every celebrity who enters litigation: the inevitable uncovering of unflattering text messages. This most recently occured in the defamation case that broke the internet, involving Rebecca Vardy v Coleen Rooney aka the Wagatha Christie case.
It also became the downfall of actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, in their infamous court case that made global headlines.
Now it’s happening to Green.
Green got her big break in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 2003 romantic drama The Dreamers and is best known for her portrayal of Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.
Now the French actress is suing production company White Lantern Films for a film she was due to star in which was shut down at the last minute and never released. The sci-fi film, titled A Patriot, centred around a Border Corps captain in an authoritarian state and was set to feature Green alongside acting heavyweights Charles Dance and Helen Hunt. Green was also signed on as an executive producer as well as lead actress.
Despite A Patriot never seeing the light of day, Green is demanding that her full fee ($1m, so roughly £830,000) be paid. It’s proving to be a sticking point for White Lantern Films, which disagrees with Green’s demands and have launched a countersuit against Green, claiming that she derailed production and is at fault for the doomed fate of the movie.
The case begins at the High Court in London today (January 26) but pre-trial court papers have revealed WhatsApp messages sent by Green about the film’s producers and crew.
Green can be seen referring to one of her fellow executive producers, Jack Seal, as “evil”, a “madman”, a “devious sociopath” and, perhaps her best putdown of the lot, “pure vomit”.
She also appears to take aim at the crew of the film when she realises she can’t bring in her own people. Speaking to her agent, Green laments that they’ll be “obliged to take [the producer’s] shitty peasant crew members from Hampshire”. Yikes.
She also calls Terry Seal, another executive producer, a “f***ing moron”, and states that both he and Jack Seal are “arseholes”. In a separate conversation with the film’s director, Dan Pringle, she references them both, saying: “At the end of the day, we want to get rid of Terry [Bird]. And his big Boss [Jack Seal],” signing off the text with her pièce de résistance, “My name is Cruella”.
The trial in London is due to last eight days, with Green expected to give evidence on Monday, January 30.
