Jean-Pierre Jeunet had been having trouble finding the right actress to cast as the lead in his film “Amélie” (2001).
The part was written specifically for Emily Watson. In that first draft, Amélie’s father was an Englishman living in London.
She wanted the part but had to decline because she didn’t speak French and had already agreed to be in “Gosford Park” (2001).Then he happened to see a poster for the film “Venus Beauty” (1999) featuring Audrey Tautou and he knew he’d found his leading lady.
“Audrey Tautou looks like a little elf with big eyes, like a deer.
She’s the perfect actress for me, because she’s able to do both comedy and drama. That’s pretty rare in France.
Most French actors are only able to play realistic. Even Catherine Deneuve plays the same way all the time.”
Whenever this film was shot on location, Jeunet and the crew would clean the area of debris, grime, trash and graffiti, so that the real settings would match the fantastic nature of the film.
This was an especially difficult task when it came time to shoot at the huge train station.
Taking in over $33 million in a limited theatrical release, it is to date the highest-grossing French-language film released in the United States, and one of the biggest international successes for a French movie. (IMDb/Wikipedia)
Happy Birthday, Jean-Pierre Jeunet