Along with her time as Dr. Abigail Chase in the National Treasure movies, Diane Kruger is arguably best known for playing Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds. That role in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 movie netted the actress numerous accolades, but it wasn’t easy for Kruger to join the cast. In fact, Kruger recently dripped an f-bomb about her difficult Inglourious Basterds audition, including the fact that Tarantino wasn’t even interested in seeing her.
While discussing on the podcast Reign with Josh Smith how as she’s gotten older, she’s had numerous “fuck you” moments when it comes to people trying to fit her into one type of categorical box, Diane Kruger admitted that there have been times where it’s felt “unfair” that she’s not where she wants to be. She then recalled the hoops she jumped through just to audition for Inglourious Basterds, saying:
Even for Inglourious Basterds, he auditioned everyone. He didn't want to audition me because he saw a movie that I was in that he didn't like. So he didn't believe in me from the get-go. Literally, the only reason he auditioned me is because there was no one left to audition. I had to pay for my own flight from New York to go to Germany because he wouldn’t see me in the US. I had to jump through all these hoops that definitely put my nose in a joint. But I was like ‘You know what? Fuck him!’ I’m going to do that and prove to him that I could do it. And thankfully it all worked out. But sometimes it just seems so unfair, and you’ve got to change the narrative.
Diane Kruger didn’t share which movie it was that Quentin Tarantino didn’t like her in, but evidently it was enough that he wasn’t willing to consider putting her in Inglourious Basterds. Between that, only being called in because she was the last person on the list and having to travel to another continent simply to audition, Kruger could have easily kept looking around for work elsewhere. Instead, she decided to put in the extra effort to show Tarantino that she could play the role, and it paid off, with the actress taking on the role that had previously been lined up for Nastassja Kinski.
With her character being a German film star who becomes a spy for the allies, Diane Kruger appeared alongside Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Daniel Brühl and many more in Inglourious Basterds. Released in theaters on August 21, 2009, The Quentin Tarantino World War II flick was met with primarily positive reviews and made over $321 million worldwide off a reported $70 million budget. It later walked away with the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Waltz) and was nominated in seven other Oscars categories.
Diane Kruger can currently be seen co-starring with Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, Fan Bingbing and Sebastian Stan in The 355, which is playing in theaters. Meanwhile, Quentin Tarantino still hasn’t announced what his 10th and final movie will be, but his novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is available to purchase.
