- Corinne Clery, Histoire d’O, France-West Germany-Canada, 1975. The former child star from the French classic, Jeux interdits (Forbidden Games), 1951 (when she was six), met with Emmanuelle director Just Jaeckin but the “strong nudity” put her off – although she had been topless in Les valseuses, 1973. As if one could make the erotic classic without nudity. Lancashire’s Anulka Dziubinska also passed despite (or because of) having been extremely naked in Vampyres. And Canadian Carol Laure was avoiding French sex-movies (Hollywood’s too) before performing fellatio in Canada’s L’ange et la femme(The Angel and the Woman) in the following year. The initial O director was El Topo, himself, Alejandro Jodorowsky. When he quit
- Dominique Laffin, La femme qui pleure (US: The Crying Woman), France, 1978. Which came first, scenario or the reality… Yet another French film about the breakdown of a couple – being, of course, the auteur Jacques Doillon and his editor, Noëlle Boisson (parents of Lola, the 2006 director of Et toi, t’es sur qui?) Among his earliest casting work, Dominique Besnheard met all, the bright young things of the hour: Anicée Alvina (from Alain Robbe-Grillet’s erotics), Jacqueline Parent, and two others who later became directors: Nicole Garcia and Brigitte Röuan. Doillon played himself (obviously!) and wanted Fossey, now that the unforgettable 1951 child star of Les jeux interdit was acting again. He was fixated until meeting her. And then, as casting director Dominque Besnehard reported, the director never found the courage to tell her the bad news that Laffin had won the film.
- Domiziana Giordano, Nostalghia, Italy-Russia, 1982. For his first film made outside his motherland, Andrei Tarkovsky, hailed as the finest Russian film-maker since Sergei Eisenstein, saw numerous films to find his cinematographer and leading lady and usually said: “Hated it, loved her…” Fanny Ardant in Truffaut’s La femme d’à côté… Jill Clayburgh in Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman… Aurore Clément in Elio Petri’s Buone notizie. Brigitte Fossey promised to drop everything to work with him and he was much taken by Isabelle Huppert (she and Clayburgh shared the 1978 Cannes festivall best actress award). Italian money insisted on an Italian star. He did not want Marcello Mastroianni or Ugo Tognazzi but fell for Giordano – for the second of her 18 screen roles. Ingmar Bergman said Tarkovsky was “the most important director of all time.” A minor planet was named after hjm in 1982 – 3345 Tarkovsky.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 3