-
Christophe(r) Lambert, Subway, France, 1984. The new, hot Paris realisateur, Luc Besson, shuffled his hero, Fred, around from two British singers, Head and Sting (“Who is Sting?” said his producer!) and the new Tarzan.
-
Jean Hugues Anglade, 37°2 le matin (UK/US: Betty Blue), France, 1985. The Brit singer (living in France) was high in the frame for Zorg – opposite the titular Béatrice Dalle – during the tenure of the first producteur, Anne-Marie Rassam. (Claudie Ossard finished the job). “But his agent wanted a small fortune,” reported French casting icon Dominque Besnehard. He found JHA while trying to cast him in Captive. “Many actors of my generation must have lined up in Beineix’s office,’ JHA told Frederic Albert Levy on the 2013 DVD bonus, “but he was still looking… Over the last six months, I believe he had seen people like Jean Reno, François Cluzet, Head… Eventually, it was Dominique Besnehard [he discovered Betty herself, Béatrice Dalle] who, very accurately, suggested I meet Beineix. I believe he hadn’t found his Zorg because he was after actors substantially younger than the characters in the novel. And he wanted to make a film ‘sexually committed,’ with actors ‘physically available,’ capable of using their bodies, of walking naked in front of the camera, in a very natural way. There was an exhibitionistic side in me… those were the days!”
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 2