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Eva Green today admitted she had been ‘humiliated’ by the release of her foul-mouthed WhatsApps calling crew of a doomed sci-fi movie ‘evil’, ‘morons’, ‘total a***holes’ and ‘sh***y peasants from Hampshire’.
The former Bond Girl also spoke about her friendship with Daniel Craig and how he had said he would rather ‘slash his wrists’ than be 007 again, only to play the British spy again in No Time to Die.
Ms Green told the High Court said she had hoped climate change thriller A Patriot would fall through, claiming she wanted to seize control of it herself.
The actress, 42, is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with the makers of A Patriot, a £4million movie, with each side blaming the other for the production’s demise in October 2019. She is suing White Lantern Films for her fee of $1million (£810,000) – even though the movie was never made.
Giving evidence for a second day, Ms Green said that she felt ‘humiliated’ that her WhatsApps were being read out in court. She was asked about one message where she called the film a ‘f***ing nightmare’, adding: ‘We had to get out’.
Green insists she did not sabotage production of A Patriot or walk out on the film, and told the court: ‘I have a very direct way of saying things’, before adding: ‘I was not expecting to have my WhatsApp messages exposed in court. It’s already very humiliating.’
Cross-examined by Max Mallin, KC, for White Lantern what she meant by the ‘f***ing nightmare’ message, she said: ‘Sometimes you say things you don’t mean. You hate someone and say I’m going to kill someone but are you really going to kill that person? No.
Eva Green arrives at the High Court where she is suing White Lantern Films for her $1m fee for a film, A Patriot
Ms Green smiled as she entered the Rolls Building just off Chancery Lane wearing bright red and orange sunglasses, a black velvet jacket and dark jeans and boots
Ms Green, 42, is at loggerheads with the makers of dystopian British sci-fi project, which collapsed amid funding issues. Both sides blame each other
‘There’s the famous example of Daniel Craig saying ‘I’d rather slash my wrists than do another Bond movie.’ But did he slash his wrists? No, he made another Bond movie.
Ms Green added: ‘I know this story because I know Daniel Craig,’ leading to laughter from the public gallery.
Max Mallin KC said that in the message Ms Green made it clear that she did not want to continue with A Project because of its executive producer Jake Seal.
The message, which was read out in court stated: ‘We have to get out as the main investor (Mr Seal) was a f***ing nightmare, truly mad.’
But Ms Green denied this, prompting the lawyer to ask her: ‘Are you accustomed to simply lying in casual WhatsApp messages?’
In heated exchanges with the lawyer, Ms Green hit back: ‘I was not expecting to have my WhatsApp messages exposed in court. It’s already very humiliating.’
Ms Green claimed that she felt ‘trapped’ at her involvement in A Patriot and that it was the ‘craziest’ situation she had ever been involved in.
Giving evidence on the second day of her High Court hearing she said: ‘It caused me immense stress, I just felt I was trapped.
‘I was frustrated and confused; it was the craziest situation I’ve ever been involved in.’
Ms Green told the court that this was caused by the involvement of executive producer Jake Seal, who she did not want to work with, financial problems with the film and the way the project was being run.
Ms Green smiled as she entered the Rolls Building just off Chancery Lane wearing bright red and orange sunglasses, a black velvet jacket and dark jeans and boots.
Bond girl Eva Green, pictured in Casino Royale with Daniel Craig, is at the High Court in a legal battle over the demise of a £4 million film project
Ms Green is suing White Lantern Films for her fee of $1million (£810,000) which she claims she is entitled to under a ‘pay or play’ clause in her contract. The movie was shut down due to funding issues in October 2019.
Yesterday she put her rudeness about production staff of A Patriot in expletive-laden texts and emails down to her ‘Frenchness’. She also apologised for ‘horrible comments’ calling the crew ‘s****y peasants from Hampshire’.
In messages used in White Lantern’s claim, Ms Green is said to refer to one of the film’s executive producers, Jake Seal, as ‘evil’, a ‘devious sociopath’, ‘a liar and a mad man’ and ‘pure vomit’. She is also said to have called production manager Terry Bird ‘a f****** moron’ and described the men as ‘total a***holes’.
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She also compared her own safety concerns about the project – including a lack of stunt training – to the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of Alec Baldwin‘s film Rust.
Ms Green, 42, is at loggerheads with the makers of dystopian British sci-fi project, which collapsed amid funding issues.
The actress had been due to play the lead role, that of a soldier, and told the High Court in London that she ‘fell deeply in love’ with ‘one of the best scripts I have ever read’.
But things turned sour, the court has heard, with White Lantern films claiming the star breached her £810,000 contract by making unreasonable demands which undermined their efforts to produce the movie.
They have revealed messages sent by the Hollywood star about the film’s producers and backers, calling them ‘super weak and stupid’.
While she apologised for ‘inappropriate language’ and ‘some horrible things’ sent by email and text, giving evidence Ms Green said that this was ‘my Frenchness coming out… this was my emotions speaking’.
The Paris-born actress and model, who began her career in French theatre after spending time in London and Ireland, added: ‘Sometimes you say things you don’t actually mean, of course they are not weak and stupid.’
Another text message, sent by one of the film’s producers, said that he thought Ms Green would ‘rather eat tumours’ than make the film with another of the producers whom she disliked. Ms Green, who was an executive producer for the project, dismissed claims from White Lantern that she sought to undermine the film’s production, telling the High Court: ‘My heart and soul was in making A Patriot.’
Actress Eva Green filming near Tower Bridge in October 2019
She said: ‘It is one of the best scripts I have ever read. As an actor it was very exciting, it is the role of a soldier which I have not played before. It was about climate change, which is very dear to my heart.’
However, the Casino Royale star, who attended court in central London wearing a black roll-neck top with a smart moss green velvet blazer and sunglasses, revealed how she feared A Patriot may become a low budget ‘B film’ after disagreements behind the scenes with the film’s financiers and producers.
‘When an actor is in a B movie, you will be labelled as B actor,’ she told the court, adding: ‘It could kill my career… I don’t care about the money, I live to make good films, it is my religion.’
Max Mallin KC, for White Lantern, previously claimed that Ms Green had an ‘animosity’ towards a vision for the project held by one of the film’s executive producers, Jake Seal.
In WhatsApp exchanges with her agent and the film’s director, Ms Green claimed Mr Seal was planning to make a ‘cheap B movie’, describing him as ‘the devil’ and ‘evil’, he said.
Mr Mallin asked Ms Green if she remembered sending a different text message suggesting that the film under Mr Seal would be a ‘B-s****y-movie’.
The actress said she remembered the message. Ms Green added: ‘I never wanted this to be a B-movie but I realised more towards the end that it was going to happen.’
The actress, who played Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale and also starred in the BBC1 series The Luminaries, is suing White Lantern for her fee of $1million (£810,000), which she claims she is entitled to under a ‘pay or play’ clause in her contract.
The term ‘pay or play’ is used in the film industry to refer to when an artist is paid whether or not they are called upon to perform.
White Lantern is defending the claim and bringing a countersuit.
Lawyers for Ms Green say she is being portrayed unfairly as a diva by White Lantern. Edmund Cullen KC, for Ms Green, told the court last week ‘this case is designed to paint my client as a diva to win headlines and damage her reputation’.
Instead Mr Cullen insists that Ms Green bent over backwards to try to complete the project.
Detailing accommodations the actress made in order to assist the film, he listed how ‘she repeatedly agreed to move back the start date, she agreed to move production from Ireland to the UK, she made repeated offers to use part of her fee to finance the project’.
The film was also due to feature The Jewel In The Crown and Game Of Thrones actor Charles Dance and As Good As It Gets star Helen Hunt. Misery star Kathy Bates was also attached to the movie at one point.
Director Dan Pringle said the proposed budget had been reduced from the £8million originally discussed with Ms Green to a lower estimate of £4.6million.
The trial continues, with Ms Green continuing to give evidence today.
