Eva Green said it was “humiliating” to have her private messages exposed during a trial for the film.
The “Casino Royale” actor took the witness stand at London’s High Court on Tuesday, where several WhatsApp messages between Green and her agent, as well as director Dan Pringle, were read aloud, according to Variety.
Green described the production team of sci-fi thriller “A Patriot,” which collapsed in 2019 due to lack of funding, as “peasant shit.” He said the finance company, Sherborne, was full of “sad people” and “wretched people” and called producer Jake Seal “the devil”.
Green sued Sherborne and the production company White Lantern for $1 million for their failure to secure financing. They claim that she deliberately undermined the production to see it fail and get the script herself, and they are contradicted.
They allege that Green is involved in “conspiracy, fraud and unlawful interference.” Hearings in the case began in late January, when Green’s lawyer, Edmund Cullen, argued that the film was a “passion project” for her – and that Green had been unfairly portrayed as a “diva”.
Green, who served as an executive producer on the film, testified Tuesday.
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“I have a very direct way of saying things,” Green said on the witness stand, according to Page Six. “I did not expect my WhatsApp messages to be exposed in court. It’s already very humbling.”
Green added that “sometimes you say things you don’t say” and compared her passionate messages to a statement from Daniel Craig. His former co-star famously told Time Out after reprising his role as 007 for a third time that he would rather die than do it again.
“There’s a famous example of Daniel Craig saying he’d rather ‘slash my wrists’ than do another Bond film,” Green said. “He honored his contract, he did another Bond film, he didn’t cut his wrists. Sometimes you say things under extreme pressure and it comes out.
Green called “A Patriot” a “crazy nightmare” and told an associate, “We’ve got to get out,” though. Whether this indicates intentional production sabotage and subsequent breach of contract by Green remains to be determined in court.
“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to honor my contract,” Green said. “If he had been called to the set, I would have made this film, even if it was a disaster. I’ve never broken a contract, I had to.”
