Her role in Casino Royale made her known to the general public and yet French actress Eva Green almost never played James Bond Girl, a career sometimes hangs by a thread …
2006, her debut as an actress
In 2006, the French active Eva Green is still relatively unknown to the general public, but she managed to play across the Atlantic in Ridley Scott’s super-production, Kingdom of Heaven a year before, which allowed her to acquire the international actress status. You would think that the actress jumped at the chance when the production of James Bond offered her to take the tests for the role of Vesper, but not at all.
She eclipsed Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie
In 2005, she appeared at the trials in a tight black Dior dress. In ten minutes flat, Eva captivates director Martin Campbell and producer Barbara Broccoli. At 25, her beauty is obvious. Marlene Jobert’s daughter eclipses Charlize Theron, Sienna Miller, Angelina Jolie and even Scarlett Johansson, competing for the role. Against all expectations, the actress rears up and rejects the first scenario, which she considers too macho: “There is no question that I play a chick in a bikini who brings her hair back in slow motion when coming out of the water ! “, she launches to the director stunned by so much arrogance. Her daring paid off: the script was reworked and she had a conclusive second audition in Prague, a week before the first scenes.
Tragic and Glamour
Everything suggests that the production was right to choose Eva Green, as her character brings tragic and glamor. She shines completely and stands out as one of the most outstanding James Bond Girls of the saga, and undoubtedly the French (after Claudine Auger, Carole Bouquet and Sophie Marceau) the most credible and luminous in this emblematic role decidedly cut for she.
