Director Quentin Tarantino bristled when asked about a supposed lack of dialogue for actress Margot Robbie in his latest film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Robbie is starring as the murdered actress Sharon Tate in the movie, which features Leonardo DiCaprio as a struggling actor and Brad Pitt as his stunt double.
During a press conference at the Cannes film festival on Wednesday, Tarantino was asked why Robbie does not have many lines.
Appearing annoyed, he replied: “I reject your hypothesis.”
Australian actress Robbie, 28, then stepped in to discuss her role as Tate, who was a 26-year-old rising Hollywood star when she was murdered by followers of Charles Manson in 1969.
She said: “I think the moments I was on screen gave a moment to honour Sharon. I think the tragedy was the loss of innocence.
“To show the wonderful sides of her could be done without speaking. I did feel like I got a lot of time to explore the character without dialogue, which is an interesting thing.
“Rarely do I get an opportunity to spend so much time on my own as a character.”
Tarantino, 56, is one of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers but his legacy has been placed under scrutiny following the #MeToo movement’s rise to prominence.
He was a frequent collaborator with disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein while Uma Thurman told the New York Times last year Tarantino forced her to work under unsafe conditions on the set of Kill Bill.
Tarantino described making Thurman perform a stunt in which she was injured as “the biggest regret of my life”.