Photo: Courtesy of The Weinstein Company
You might be shocked to hear it, but apparently not everyone is as obsessed with Marion Cotillard as we are. In fact, there are some people who haven't even heard of the actress-slash-Dior muse, even in Hollywood. James Gray, the director of her upcoming period piece The Immigrant, recently admitted to being in the dark about the actress before her casting. But, he soon wised up to her mesmerizing ways, in a turn of events that you won't believe.
"I have three young children so I'm a little bit out of touch with movies right now and I didn't know who Cotillard was," Gray said at The Immigrant's New York Film Festival screening. "I had become friendly with her boyfriend and we all went out to dinner, and we started arguing about an actor who she loved and I thought was overrated, and she threw a piece of bread at my head." While that might not be typical dinner decorum, the move only served to show off Cotillard's admirable self-assurance. "The minute she mentioned that she thought I was a jerk, I immediately liked her as a result," he said. "So I wrote the movie for her."
Luckily for everyone involved, it ended up being just the right move — Cotillard wooed Gray just as she does audiences in the movie. "I thought she had a great face, and I'm not just talking about being beautiful which she is, but it's almost like a silent film actress," said Gray. "She's very intelligent, and she's very intuitive in that way, and I loved working with her."
Of course, we're not advocating starting a food fight at your next dinner party, but we get a huge kick out of Cotillard's pluck. For such a traditionally sophisticated woman, she sure packs the punch in the personality department. And we have to admit, it makes for a great story.