Quentin Tarantino Reveals Identity of 2 A-List Stars He Ruthlessly Fired From 'Inglourious B-sterds' After 'Terrible' Table Reading
Quentin Tarantino ruthessley axed two A-list stars from his 2009 movie, 'Inglourious Basterds.'
Nov. 13 2026, Published 12:20 p.m. ET
Quentin Tarantino claims he sacked two A-list stars from his movie Inglourious B-sterds, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Hollywood director, 63, opened up about his brutal culling in a new book about the 2009 movie.
Glamorous Stars Axed By Quentin Tarantino
Actresses Isabelle Huppert and Mélanie Laurent were both fired by Tarantino.
He admits firing French actress Isabelle Huppert, 73, after she "didn't show up" to a table read, before replacing her with Maggie Cheung.
Tarantino said: "So f--k it. I fired her. I mean, I love Isabelle Huppert – Heaven's Gate and all that, but there were issues with her contract.
"It just kept stalling. And then not coming to the table read. Well, we cast Maggie instead."
The filmmaker then delved into his second major sacking on the movie, Mélanie Laurent, whom he later rehired after she apparently begged Tarantino for another shot.
She was dropped from the project following a "terrible" table read, but later called the Pulp Fiction director back and asked to try again.
Quentin Tarantino Re-Hired Mélanie Laurent After Pleas From Actress
Laurent was eventually cast as Shosanna Dreyfus, the female lead of the film.
Tarantino agreed as long as she agreed to do three days of rehearsals with him.
Laurent, 43, nailed it on her second try and got her job back as Shosanna Dreyfus, the film's female lead.
"Let me just go on the record for everybody to know: I love Melanie," Tarantino said in The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious B-sterds by author Jay Glennie.
"The fact of the matter is, if we were not talking about the making of Inglourious B-sterds, I would never think about the table read again for the simple reason Mélanie is my Shosanna.
"She did a wonderful job."
Inglourious B-sterds grossed over $320million, making it one of Tarantino's highest-grossing films.
Movie Was a Hit With Critics
Tarantino's movie picked up eight Academy Award nominations.
It picked up eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Christoph Waltz ended up winning Best Supporting Actor for his role as the villainous Hans Landa.
Inglourious B-sterds follows two separate, converging missions to assassinate the top leadership of N-zi Germany in a Paris cinema
In addition to Waltz, it stars Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger.
Although Huppert was dropped from the project, the French actress was later nominated for Best Actress at the 2017 Academy Awards for her role in Paul Verhoeven's Elle.
Tarantino has form for ruthlessly sidelining female stars from his movies.
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Jennifer Lawrence claims she was dropped from 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.'
Speaking in January, Jennifer Lawrence claimed she lost out on a role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Margot Robbie because she "wasn't pretty enough."
The actress claimed she was in contention to play Sharon Tate, but the Aussie nabbed the part in a stellar cast including Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Dakota Fanning.
She said Tate's sister Debra went public by declaring Lawrence was "not pretty enough" for the part and that she would prefer Robbie impacted Tarantino’s decision-making, as he previously "did" want her for the part.
Lawrence explained: "I'm pretty sure it is true, or it's that thing where I've been telling that story this way for so long that I believe it, but I'm pretty sure that happened."
The Hunger Games actress added: "Or he just never was considering me for the part, and the internet just went out of their way to call me ugly."
