Quentin Tarantino originally didn't want Diane Kruger to be in Inglourious Basterds

Diane Kruger was part of the stacked cast in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, playing Bridget Von Hammersmark, a movie star who’s an undercover Allied spy. But, it turns out, Tarantino initially didn’t want her in the movie.

On the latest episode of the Reign With Josh Smith podcast, Kruger spoke candidly about Tarantino’s refusal to consider her for the film. “He auditioned everyone. He didn’t want to audition me because he saw a movie that I was in that he didn’t like,” she said. “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.”

To make things even more challenging for the actor, Tarantino refused to let her audition in the United States, instead making her travel to Germany to audition, with Kruger having to pay for her own plane ticket. But she was motivated to prove the filmmaker wrong.

“I had to jump through all these hoops that definitely put my nose out of joint, but I was like, ‘You know what, fuck him. I’m just gonna do that and prove him that I could do it,” Kruger recalled. “Thankfully, it all worked out but sometimes it just seems so unfair, and you’ve got to change the narrative.”

Not only did all work out, but the actor even defended Tarantino back in 2018 after Uma Thurman came forward with allegations of the filmmaker putting her in danger when a “negligent to the point of criminality” car crash on the set of Kill Bill left her with severe injuries on her neck and knees. Kruger penned a statement on Instagram, noting that while she supports Thurman, her experience with Tarantino was positive. She wrote, “I would like to say that my work experience with Quentin Tarantino was pure joy. He treated me with utter respect and never abused his power or forced me to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.”