The story behind the trivia

Director Paul Schrader and lead actress Nastassja Kinski had an affair during the production of this movie. Schrader fell in love and planned to propose marriage to Kinski at the wrap party, but she didn't show up and cut off all communication with him. After three months Schrader finally tracked Kinski down in Paris, where she bluntly told him, "Paul, I always fuck my directors. And with you it was difficult".

Tanen thought that in Cat People he would get a classy exploitation film starring Nastassja Kinski, while Schrader was happy to finally get a big studio movie with lots of special effects. But he gave Tanen more than he bargained for, a lyrical ode to sensuality, incest, and death, which only Schrader could have imagined would change his image. “Everybody on the film was doing drugs except Nastassja,” he continues. “The drugs were really fucking me up. One day, I had been doing some coke in my trailer, I didn’t want to come out. My AD came in to get me. He started doing drugs. The second AD came in to try and get us both out. Then the three of us were there, doing coke. All the PAs were standing around the trailer, because they didn’t have anybody left. Somebody said, ‘How are we gonna get anybody to direct this movie?”

Then there was Schrader’s intense affair with his leading lady. Coming off Roman Polanski’s Tess, Kinski was being touted as the next Ingrid Bergman. Flat-chested and boyish-looking, she had a sensual face with full lips, perfect for Schrader in his neo-gay phase. He proposed marriage, even though he had just proposed to his long-term (seven years) housemate, Michelle Rappaport, telling her he wanted children. In fact, “I had two marriage and honeymoon plans,” he recalls. “I had agreed to marry Nastassja, I had agreed to marry Michelle, and I said to my secretary, “Kook, I can’t handle this anymore. Whichever one says yes, that’s what I’ll do,”

Not only had he agreed to marry two women, but he had two psychiatrists as well. Recalls Bud Smith, whom the director hired because he loved Sorcerer, “He would call one shrink, talk to him about whatever the problem was, then he would call the other one to find out if the first one was lying to him.”

Toward the end of production, Kinski broke off the relationship. Schrader was devastated, furious. They ceased speaking to each other, and on one occasion, he directed her by proxy from his limousine. Says Milius, “When the movie was over, she disappeared. He pursued her to Paris and finally cornered _ her with some young stud. She said, “Paul, I always fuck my directors. And with you it was difficult.”

One day, during post-production, Kinski showed up at the Black Tower visibly agitated. Tanen’s assistant announced, “Nastassja Kinski is insisting on seeing you. She’s crying.” Kinski entered, indeed weeping copiously.
“Please sit down,” said Tanen, gesturing to a chair. “What’s wrong?”
“He shoot me here.”
"What?"
“He shoot me here.”
"Somebody shot at you?"
“No, no, no—he shoot me here!”
"Okay, let's start from the beginning. Who shot you?"
"Paul."
"Paul took a shot at you?"
“No, he shoot me here!” Kinski was jabbing her finger downward. Tanen cast his eyes down toward the Oriental rug. “No, not there, here!” He raised his eyes to her crotch. A light slowly dawned in his eyes.
"He promise he never put it in movie."
“You're saying that he took some shots of your… genitalia area…?”
"Yes!"
"Why did you let him do that?"
“Because he was my boyfriend and I believed him, but now he tells me he’s going to put this in the movie.” She began to hiccup hysterically.
Tanen rolled his eyes, picked up the phone, called Schrader. “Listen, you fucking idiot, this girl is running around telling everybody you shot her crotch and you're going to put beaver shots in the middle of this movie, what the fuck are you doing?”
“Oh man, she fucked me over and I’m going to fuck her, nobody’s going to treat me this way…”
“Jesus Christ, you asshole, don’t put any beaver shots in this movie! You'll get an X rating.”