French star so dazzled by beauty of Maggie Cheung she forgot her lines

While Maggie Cheung Man-yuk might not be in Cannes, our film editor Clarence Tsui is. For film geeks curious about what Cheung's cameo role was, he managed an exclusive chat with actress Melanie Laurent (pictured), who shot four scenes with Cheung in Inglourious Basterds. Our intrepid film guy learned Cheung was to play Madame Mimmieux, the proprietor of a cinema house. In the version screened at Cannes, Mimmieux is now only mentioned by Laurent's character in name during a conversation. Still, the French actress had nothing but praise for the Hong Kong star.

'She's amazing,' Laurent gushed. 'I remember that moment during the first take of the scene, she was upstairs and I was downstairs and I was looking at her and thought she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Really! Quentin [Tarantino] just said, 'Action!' And I was standing there, having forgotten my lines. We worked together for three days and it was just great chemistry. I love her freedom and the way she chooses movies. It's funny to hear her saying she's tired and after making all these great movies she just wants to be a good housewife, because she's a movie star.'

Incidentally, Laurent has another Hong Kong connection. She starred in Kenneth Bi Kwok-chi's Rice Rhapsody in 2004 opposite Sylvia Chang Ai-chia and TV chef Martin Yan.