Vincent Perez
Luc Thuiller, Hors-la-loi (Outlaws!), France, 1984. Inspired by Coppola's Outsiders, realisteur Robin Davis wanted unknowns. He told his casting director Dominque Besnehard: Find me a new James Dean and Natalie Wood. Fifteen of them! With four assistants for the first time, he put ads in papers and film magazines and combed through colleges, schools, gyms, night clubs, streets and suburbs. They found 300 kids, but too young for such a violent movie ruled the Youth Commission - although making an exception for Pascal Librazzi, 14½ and Clovis Cornillac, 15 - the only one to make a meaningful career.
Christophe(r) Lambert, Vercingétorix, la légende du druide roi, France, 2001. Another 90s' project cutting losses with disastrous reviews. And dialogue: "From the waist up I'm German, from the waist down I'm Spanish."Ole!
Alejandro Fernández, Zapata - El sueno del heroe, Mexico, 2004. With the 90s' shooting delayed over 18 months, the German-Swiss Perez quit for I Dreamed of Africa, 2000. Director Alfonso Arayu cut his losses with an all Mexican version, denounced by most critics.
David Morrissey, Basic Instinct 2, 2005. Benjamin Bratt was dropped when Sharon Stone said he was not a good actor.Rich, coming from her. The producers dialled Paris to sign up Vincent.Trop hard! Too late! An actors' strike shut down the London project. For a long while. "I let myself down," said Morrissey. "When it came out… I didn't want to leave the house.It was a very bruising experience… I'd do it again tomorrow. But I'd do it differently because I'd have different tools in my armoury."
Fabrice Adde, The Revenenant, 2015. Perez was booked so the unknown Adde copped his eighth movie role with the help of his selfie test as the French trapper Toussaint - opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. His tenth was back to usual… A lame-brained French idea of comedy, La tour 2 contrôle infernal, with a Gallic Abbott and Costello, Eric and Ramzy.