Although you may not know Juliette Binoche, Steven Spielberg knows her as the person that turned down three of his most famous movies.
Binoche is a French actor who gained international acclaim via performances in art-house films, the most revered of which is Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours: Blue. Despite Spielberg occupying a far different cinematic world, one of big budgets and big returns, he became a fan of Binoche’s and asked her to be in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Schindler’s List, and Jurassic Park and was rebuffed for each. In fact, as Binoche told Variety, she didn’t even remember thrice rejecting the world’s most famous director; it was Spielberg who reminded her.
“I don’t remember very well but Steven reminded me! The first time was for Indiana Jones 3, because I was doing The Lovers on the Bridge with Leos Carax. The second time, for Schindler’s List, I was pregnant, and then for the dinosaurs, I had already committed to Three Colors: Blue. It would have been amusing to do Jurassic Park to see how [Spielberg] makes the film, but at the same time, Spielberg is more of a men’s director, like Scorsese actually.”
Binoche had previously confronted both Spielberg and Scorsese about their dearth of female-led movies. Asked if she’d still be willing to work with those directors, Binoche replied, “Of course I would! Even if I find their approach to cinema to be very commercial, they have a fabulous technique which they own completely, and they’re storytellers.” However, “their films lack women.”
See what Spielberg missed out on by watching Binoche in Both Sides of the Blade, which was released on IFC on July 8.
