Eva Green’s Dream Collaboration With Lars von Trier Unravels
Eva Green once idolised Lars von Trier, but she walked away from a coveted role after clashing with his demands and approach to explicit content.
For plenty of actors, there’s that one director they’d give anything to work with. Some will jump at any opportunity, even if the timing’s off or the project’s a bit dodgy. But Eva Green wasn’t one to leap without thinking. She actually knocked back a chance to work with the filmmaker she’d once described as “my God”, weighing up her career and reputation over a lifelong ambition.
Green’s breakout came with the provocative drama The Dreamers, where she played a sheltered twin in a story that didn’t shy away from nudity or taboo themes. The film’s explicit scenes and controversial plot made her a talking point, but she soon found her feet in Hollywood, landing roles in big productions like Kingdom of Heaven and Casino Royale. Still, her early work in The Dreamers stuck in people’s minds – it’s not the sort of film you forget in a hurry.
Turning Down a Long-Awaited Offer
When the offer came to join Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, Green found herself in a real bind. The idea of working with a director she’d admired for years was tempting, but she was wary of being pigeonholed. She didn’t want to be seen as someone who only took on roles heavy with explicit content. In an interview, she explained,
“After The Dreamers, I think people would have been very nasty to me. People always talk about the sex. You have a sex scene, and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, there’s sex.’ So I’ve decided not to have a sex scene for a while, because you feel like it’s the only thing people remember. I feel very vulnerable.”
Looking back, it might’ve been a wise move. Antichrist, released in 2009, was notorious for its graphic scenes and intense subject matter, with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe in the lead roles. The film didn’t hold back, and Green realised she wasn’t up for that kind of challenge, no matter how much she respected the director.
Clashing With an Idol
Green tried to find a middle ground, hoping her admiration for von Trier would help her navigate the project. But things didn’t pan out. She recalled,
“Lars von Trier was my God. I loved everything that he’d done, it was my dream and fantasy to work with him, but I didn’t want to do certain things. I was asking questions and not being a puppet. There were a lot of sexual things where I was like, ‘Really? I’m not sure; is there another way to make it work?’ and he was like, ‘Nobody questions my authority.’ Brutal.”
Von Trier’s reputation for pushing boundaries is well known, both in his films and his behaviour on set. By the time negotiations wrapped up, Green’s view of him had shifted. The dream job had turned into something far more complicated than she’d imagined.
Moving On From a Broken Dream
Reflecting on the experience, Green admitted,
“It kind of got tricky. I don’t think he would want to work with me, honestly.”
The collaboration she’d once fantasised about never happened, and her admiration for the director faded in the process. Sometimes, even the most promising opportunities aren’t worth the personal cost.