Maggie Cheung Okays with 'Basterds' Cut

Actress Maggie Cheung and her boyfriend Ole Scheeren pose at the opening ceremony of Louis Vuitton's art exhibition in Hong Kong on May 21, 2009. [Photo: yule.sohu.com]

You can say Maggie Cheung's latest film appearance is in American director Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds". Or not.

The Hong Kong actress was previously reported to have a minor role in Oscar-winning Tarantino's latest project. But when the director premiered his World War II film on Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival, all scenes featuring Cheung had already been cut out.

Cheung, who starred in a couple of scenes playing a cinema proprietress in Paris, said Thursday that she understood Tarantino's decision.

"He called me from Cannes to explain that my scenes had to be cut to ensure the film's length. I really thought it was no big deal," Cheung told reporters as she and her boyfriend Ole Scheeren showed up at an art event in Hong Kong.

"It's quite common for actors," Cheung added.

"Inglourious Basterds", which revolves around a group of Jewish-American soldiers in Nazi-occupied France, is in competition for Golden Palm, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film boasts a star-heavy cast led by Brad Pitt. Maggie Cheung was quoted in a media report last year as saying that she felt a pity she had not been able to star in a scene with Pitt.

The actress, who has settled down with her architect boyfriend in Beijing, has no film come out in the past five years. She said Thursday that she still had no film plan right now.