Marion Cotillard admitted that she had never heard of gangster John Dillinger.
The Oscar winning actress stars alongside Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's movie Public Enemies which follows Dillinger as he is pursued by the FBI.
Dillinger became an American folk hero as he robbed the banks that were responsible from plunging the country into Depression.
In an interview with Digital Spy Cotillard, who plays his girlfriend Billy Franchette said: "I didn't know him at all. I didn't even know his name."
"The first time I heard about him was for the movie and the first thing I read about him was the script."
I think they (Dillinger and Depp) had a lot in common and they were the same kind of person. She was not a gangster, not at all, she was a very kind person.
"She was also very strong. I think he was a good man, even if he was a gangster [and had spent almost] ten years in jail.
"When he went out he didn't know any better. They had a lot in common, like the loss of their parents when they were very young. They recognised each other in a way, when you know it is your partner and you know it and feel it."
Public Enemies opened at number three in the U.S. box office this weekend and the film is already surrounded in Oscar whispers.
Public Enemies is out now.
Tagged in Johnny Depp Marion Cotillard