Quentin Tarantino fired actresses before Inglourious Basterds production

Laurent rehired after poor reading

Tarantino stated that Mélanie Laurent's table read was terrible and not good enough to be terrible. He fired her before production started on the World War II movie in 2009. Laurent called the director days later to request her job back after feeling unwell. She planned to fly to Germany and rehearse again at a hotel. Tarantino admired her passion and agreed to let her return to square one. She completed three days of rehearsal which impressed him enough to give her the role of Shosanna Dreyfus back.

Huppert replaced due to absence

Isabelle Huppert was fired because she did not show up for the table read. Tarantino noted there were issues with her contract that kept stalling the process. Her role of Madame Ada Mimieux was given to Maggie Cheung instead. All scenes featuring Madame Ada Mimieux were cut from the final movie later. The director felt those scenes over-explained how Shosanna acquired the cinema for the audience.

Film became a box office hit

The Inglourious Basterds film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival during May 2009 and secured awards for best actor. The film opened in theaters that August and became a box office hit with $321 million worldwide. It remains one of Laurent's signature roles despite the initial casting changes.