My insults were like Craig’s ‘slit wrists’ joke, says Green
ACTRESS Eva Green has compared insulting Whatsapp messages about a new film to remarks made by Daniel Craig in which he said he would rather slit his wrists than play Bond again.
Ms Green, 42, was to play the lead role in A Patriot but the production collapsed in October 2019.
She is suing production company White Lantern Film, claiming she is entitled to her $1million (£810,000) fee for the project despite its cancellation.
The company is bringing a counterclaim against the French actress, alleging that she undermined the independent film’s production, made “excessive creative and financial demands” and had expectations that were “incompatible” with the budget.
In text messages used in White Lantern Film’s claim, Ms Green is said to refer to one of the film’s executive producers, Jake Seal, as a “devious sociopath”, “pure vomit” and “a liar and a mad man”.
Edmund Cullen KC, Ms Green’s barrister, previously told the High Court in London that the case was “designed to paint my client as a diva to win headlines and damage her reputation”.
On the second day of Ms Green’s evidence yesterday, Max Mallin KC, for White Lantern Film, asked the actress about a message where she described Mr Seal as “evil” and said that she had to “get out” of the film.
Denying that she meant she was withdrawing from the project, Ms Green replied: “If I really wanted to pull out, I would have asked my agent to do so in a legal way.”
Ms Green said that she had a “very direct way of saying things” and was not expecting her Whatsapp messages to be read out in court.
She added: “Sometimes you say things you don’t mean. You say you hate a person and you say ‘I’m going to kill this person’, are you going to kill this person? No. It’s a cry from the heart.”
She then referenced comments made by her Casino Royale co-star.
“Daniel Craig said ‘I would rather slash my wrists than do another Bond movie’, [but] he did honour his contract and did another Bond movie and didn’t slash his wrists.”
Ms Green added: “I know this story very well because I know Daniel.”
The British star, 54, made the comment in an interview in 2015 after finishing Spectre, having broken his leg during filming.
Craig later accepted that he appeared “ungrateful” but that the remark was made as a joke.
A ruling on the case is expected at a later date.