The director Jean-Pierre Jeunet explained that he wrote the script of Amélie, thinking of the actress Emily Watson as, in the original draft, Amélie's father was an Englishman living in London. However, Watson's French was not strong enough. Jeunet had to rewrite the screenplay for a French actress. Audrey Tautou was the first to audition for the role. You can see her in her lastest movie Thérèse, currently playing across America. Click here to see the showtimes.

And here is the scene, as it appears in the movie :