Quentin Tarantino names the two stars he fired from ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ One allegedly threatened to keep showing up to the movie set

Quentin Tarantino recently revealed he fired two actors during the early stages of making Inglourious Basterds. These details appear in a new book titled The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds by Jay Glennie, LadBible reports. The film is famous for depicting a version of World War Two where the Nazis are defeated by a mix of fire, bullets, and dynamite.

Mélanie Laurent, who played the cinema owner Shosanna, was one of the actors Tarantino let go before eventually rehiring her. He shared his experience during the table read, which he considers the most exciting day of preproduction because it gives him his first look at the movie. He stated, “Mélanie Laurent’s table read was terrible. It wasn’t good enough to be terrible… The most exciting day of preproduction for me is the table read. That is the closest I get to seeing the movie for the first time. Well, Mélanie was terrible, so I fired her.”

Laurent disagreed with his assessment and insisted that she felt unwell during that specific session. She fought for her place in the film by promising to fly out and wait until he was ready to see her again. She even threatened to keep turning up to the set to prove she was the right woman for the role.

Tarantino eventually agreed to give her three days of rehearsals to show her potential

Laurent succeeded in proving herself. The director noted, “I love Mélanie If we were not talking about the making of Inglourious Basterds, I would never think about the table read again for the simple reason Mélanie is my Shosanna. She did a wonderful job.”

Isabelle Huppert was also fired from the production. She was originally meant to play the character Ada Mimieux, who provides shelter to Shosanna in Paris before leaving her the cinema. Tarantino claimed that Huppert failed to appear at the table read, which led to her dismissal. He explained, “So f it. I fired her. I mean, I love Isabelle Huppert — ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and all that — but there were issues with her contract. It just kept stalling. And then not coming to the table read. Well, we cast Maggie instead.”

He also added, “That invariably happens. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re cast and you are not at that table, I don’t owe you jack s****! You can be fired, especially if I get excited by what somebody else did in your absence.”

The role was eventually given to Maggie Cheung. Tarantino described her performance as “fantastic,” though she did not make the final cut of the movie. He decided that the audience did not need to know how Shosanna acquired the cinema. He concluded that he could just cut to four years later and have her explain it.

Tarantino is known for being open about his casting processes and history with actors. While he was firm about firing both women, he maintained that he holds love for them. He explained that these stories are part of the history of the movie.

Representatives for both Laurent and Huppert have been contacted for comment.