1. - Peter Sellars, King Lear, 1987. The contract for bilious auteur Jean-Luc Godard to tackle Shakespeare was signed (an hour after it had been mooted) on large napkin at the Majestic Hotel bar during the 1985 Cannes festival. The film was just as ridiculous. Godard asked everyone to join what he later detested - from Orson Welles to Richard M Nixon. An invite was also mailed to Prince, who, like Ingmar Bergman, never replied. William Shakespeare Jr finally became Sellars, a stage and opera director minus any acting talent to match that of his near namesake.

2. - Chris Tucker, The Fifth Element, France, 1997. Shooting high, realisateur Luc Besson considered both Prince and Lenny Kravitz for the flamboyant Ruby Rhod.