Eva Green blames her 'French side' in trial for insulting text messages

Europe 1, with AFP 11:52 a.m., January 31, 2023

Actress Eva Green on Monday blamed "her French side" for explaining to a London court insulting messages sent during the filming of a subsequently canceled film.

A nine-day trial

The 42-year-old Frenchwoman, star of "Casino Royale" in 2006, was due to star in a sci-fi film - "A Patriot" - before production was halted in October 2019.

She is suing the production company, White Lantern Films, to obtain, despite the cancellation of the project, her stamp of one million dollars (918,000 euros).

But the British production company decided to counterattack by launching its own lawsuits against the actress, believing that she had harmed the production of the film.

The trial which opened on Thursday is expected to last nine days.

Eva Green reportedly called team member 'evil' and 'sneaky'

Called to the stand on Monday, black turtleneck and dark green blazer, Eva Green reaffirmed that she had first "fallen in love" with the film project which was to deal with the climate crisis.

Lawyers for White Lantern Films believe, however, that the French actress expressed "lack of confidence and dissatisfaction" with members of the production team.

They rely 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."

Asked about the fact that she would have qualified in a message to her agent as “weak” and “stupid” producer Adam Merrifield and screenwriter Dan Pringle, Eva Green replied that she could have made insulting remarks under the influence of emotion , apologizing for his "inappropriate remarks".

"I don't know (...) it's my French side that sometimes comes out," she said.

"Sometimes I say things out of emotion that I don't really mean. Of course they're not weak or stupid."

"I don't care about the money"

"I don't care about the money. I live to make good films, it's my religion", added the daughter of Marlène Jobert, stressing that she was worried as the filming progressed that the film was bad and harming his career.

For Edmund Cullen, the star's lawyer, "this case is designed to portray (his) client as a diva in order to make headlines and damage her reputation".

According to him, these accusations are made in the context of negotiations for the purchase of the rights to the script to make a different film.