has said she ‘fell deeply in love’ with a shuttered film project at the centre of her battle with a production company.
The Casino Royale star, 42, was due to play the lead role of soldier Kate Jones in A Patriot, but the production collapsed in October 2019 and she is now, claiming she is still entitled to her $1 million (£810,000) fee for the abandoned project.
White Lantern is bringing a counterclaim against the French actress, alleging she undermined the independent film’s production, made ‘excessive creative and financial demands’ and had expectations that were ‘incompatible’ with the film’s low budget.
Green, who gave evidence from the witness box at the High Court in on Monday, said in her written evidence to the court that she ‘fell in love’ with the film after reading writer and director Dan Pringle’s ‘brave and daring’ script.
She said in her witness statement: ‘I believed and still do that the film had the capacity to really wake people up and help them to see that the devastation of our world would eventually trigger resource wars and massive migration.’
Green, who will finish giving evidence on Tuesday ahead of a ruling at a later date, added that she ‘fell deeply in love’ with the role and the ‘message of the film’, noting that abandoning the project would feel ‘like abandoning my baby’.
She hailed the script as ‘one of the best’ she’s ever read, with the role of a soldier being something she had ‘never’ done before, while the film’s message about climate change was ‘very dear to [her] heart’.
She noted that despite making other movies with ‘serious topics’, the story drew her to this project and it is her ‘religion’ to ‘make good films’ rather than think about the money.
Max Mallin KC, for White Lantern, previously claimed the actress had an ‘animosity’ towards a vision for the film held by one of the film’s executive producers, Jake Seal.
The barrister said that in WhatsApp exchanges with her agent and the film’s director, Green claimed Seal was planning to make a ‘cheap B movie’, describing him as ‘the devil’ and ‘evil’.
Mallin asked Green if she remembered sending a different text message suggesting that the film under Seal would be a ‘B-s***ty-movie’, which she did.
He then asked: ‘If Mr Pringle had come to you and said “Ms Green would you want to make this B-s***ty-movie”, would you have agreed?’, to which she replied: ‘No, I would not have agreed to that.’
Mallin later suggested making a B-movie could be ‘bad for your reputation’, and she replied: ‘When an actor has appeared in a B-movie they are labelled as a B-actor, you never get offered quality work ever again.’
She explained: ‘I never wanted this to be a B-movie but I realised more towards the end that it was going to happen.’
While she had ‘several opportunities to walk away’, she felt she had the support of a ‘strong crew’ who could come together to ‘make something good quality’.
The actress said in her witness statement that she initially felt confident she and Pringle were going to make a ‘spectacularly powerful film’, but she was ‘shocked and upset’ after delays to the project and its move from Ireland to filming in a studio outside London.
She felt ‘deceived’, adding: ‘I was very upset and angry that I had been misled about the financial state of the production and would have preferred that the production remain in Ireland, but I did not want to withdraw from the film and was prepared to consent to the move as required by the contract.’
She had hoped to acquire the script rights in return for forgoing her fee to allow the film to be made elsewhere with a different team, but if not she knew she would have no choice but to go ahead with the film.
She has denied allegations she was not prepared to complete the project, saying: ‘In the 20 years that I have been making films, I have never broken a contract or even missed one day of shooting. Nor have I been late or done anything but give 100% heart, body and soul to every project I have ever been involved in.’
She added: ‘I understand it is being alleged that from late July 2019 onwards, I engaged in a course of conduct that demonstrated I had no intention and/or desire to complete the production of the film in accordance with the terms of the Artist Agreement and/or that I otherwise sought to undermine or frustrate the production of the film. I deny these allegations, which are untrue.’
She said she felt ‘so hurt and shocked’ by accusations of withdrawing from her contract, and questioned why she would ‘sabotage’ a film she was so passionate about.
She also apologised for ‘inappropriate language’ and ‘some horrible things’ expressed by her in emails and texts in August and September 2019.
Earlier on Monday, Pringle was asked about a text message where he said he, Green and producer Adam Merrifield ‘would rather eat tumours’ than work on the film under Seal.
Pringle said he regretted his words for speaking on behalf of the other two, and also said that the proposed budget had been reduced from the $10 million (£8 million) originally discussed with Ms Green to a lower estimate of €5.3 million euros (£4.6 million).
Green is due to finish giving evidence on Tuesday and a ruling on the case is expected at a later date.
