- Claude Véga, Tout l’or du monde, France-Italy, 1961. Old Wave realisateur Rene Clair was directing Bourvil in three roles while all the few agents in Paris were trying to get their young clients into the last dozen roles – walk-on villagers. The future great agent, Gerard Lebovici, called Costa-Gavras, one of Clair’s two assistants, and recommended Claude Berri, Marcel Bozzuffi, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Francoise Dorleac, Serge Rousseau. Costa passed on the bad news: None matched what was wanted. Lebo told Costa: “Tomorrow’s French cinema will be be you and me”…and later in the 60s, Lebo offered him a film about the French Public Enemy #1 Mesrine – with Jean-Paul Belmondo. Costa quickly owned up to the revulsion he felt about the criminal and the film was never made until a two-parter in 2007 – 23 years after Lebo’s murder in 1984.
- Philippe Laudenbach, Vivement dimanche! France, 1983. For the lawyer in what proved his final film, French directing legend François Truffaut tried hard to persuade one of his closest friends, the Artmedia agent, to return to his earlier occupation of actor. “Time is pressing and I’ve run out of options…Don’t let me down for… the person who is let down goes down.” Although he’d accepted a walk-on in Baisers voles, 1968, Rousseau (married to the Truffaut discovery, Marie Dubois) never gave into his friend’s entreaties. However, and of course, he knew the perfect replacement.
Birth year: 1930Death year: 2007Other name: Casting Calls: 1