| By Fred Topel
In Theaters May 6
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Teenage girls everywhere will add Eva Green to the list of women they’re jealous of. She joins the list of Keira Knightley and Diane Kruger, the actresses who have made out with Orlando Bloom on screen, let alone Kate Bosworth in real life. Green plays Sibylla, the queen of Jerusalem in the Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven.
The film deals with themes of religion, politics and war, but here’s what we really want to know. How good a kisser is Orlando? “God, it's such a stupid question,” Green laughed. “I'm just acting. Kisser? Yeah, of course, he's a good kisser. We were just acting, you know, it's like any other scene.”
Like any other scene, sure. Well, we’ll give Green the benefit of the doubt. Cast at the last minute, maybe she didn’t have enough time to fully relish the Bloominess of her situation.
“I arrived at eight o'clock in the morning and I had to rehearse with Orlando. I didn't know that he was such a star in America, he's so hot and everything, so I was not that intimidated. But he's such a normal person. He's very charming, very polite, and very spontaneous. It was extremely easy to work with him. As an actor I think it's a big step for him, because he went from the young romantic role to rugged, tortured hero, and he has quite a dark side. He's very somber and brings a lot of gravity to the role. And he's a man. He's a man in the movie, compared to the stuff that he did before. People are going to be surprised. He's getting his hands dirty. He's tanned, grubby, he has long hair, dirty — quite sexy, but I think he will really prove that he's an actor.”
Green had to earn her role in the film. “I did like five or six screen tests. It was a long, tough process. The first screen test was in London and I met Ridley [Scott]. He just talked about the Crusades and I was speechless. I was so shy. I was scared he would find out that my English was not good enough. He was also concerned that I might look too young for the part, or not regal enough. He called me two weeks later and I had to do like a serious screen test at the Pinewood Studios with a real actor and costumes. It was quite weird but I did it, and then I had to do another screen test.”
Those cool historical costumes were one of the plusses of Kingdom of Heaven’s brutal epic shot. “Those costumes helped me a lot. It was good materials and they were very reminiscent of the East and it helped me to get into the character. It was very easy, not like wearing corsets.”
If Eva Green looks familiar, you must have been one of the people who saw Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers during its run on the indie film arthouse circuit. The French actress’s first role cast her as a French sexpot exploring debauchery with her brother and their new friend. As emotionally and sexually harrowing as Bertolucci’s film was, it was a breeze compared to Kingdom.
“I had like three screen tests. But Kingdom Of Heaven was so exhausting, and I thought I would never get the part. Bertolucci was easier. He did speak French and did the casting in France. And he really picked me for who I was. It's a completely different process. It's more intimate for Bertolucci.”
If speaking English is such a big deal, how could Green speak with us so clearly. “It's difficult to find the right words to express myself. I'm not very eloquent. I stopped French school when I was like 17 years old, and I went to the American school for a year. And it was like a revelation because people are not that uptight. We had debate in English classes, we could talk. In the French system it's extremely frustrating because it's all about how you can express yourself but you can't talk, really. I'm very flattered that you say that my English is very good, but I don't know. I have a very bad memory.”
The Dreamers worked for Green because she could speak English with her French accent. That was the character. But after playing such a sexually open character, it was hard for Green to find a more modest follow-up.
“It's very tricky. A lot of people were like, ‘Oh, you're so sexy. You're so like la femme fatale’ and whatever. I didn't want to be typecast like that because in real life, I don't feel like the femme fatale. I want to play anything. I don't want to play the beautiful girl in the background. I just want to play complex roles, sensitive parts with many dimensions and colors.”
Green still lives in Europe, though not Paris. “I just moved to London.” Hollywood is still a ways off though. “it's a different world and I don't have a license. Maybe one day. You can't say, ‘No, I won't move to Hollywood.’ Maybe when I will be a grown-up. I just bought something in London. I'm just moving slowly.”
If Kingdom of Heaven is a hit, Green hopes the recognition will open even more doors for her. “I would like to have more choices and more offers. It's very difficult for one actor to have so many castings and to prove that you can act. Especially [because] I'm French so people say, can you take an American accent? Can you take an English accent? I just want to be an international person and I hope people will be open. I love working and preparing with coaches.”
Kingdom of Heaven opens Friday. |
