For those of us who are still completely enamored with Audrey Tautou in Amelie, seeing the actress in Pierre Salvadori’s Priceless (original title: Hors de prix) could possibly be unsettling (the old international trailer is embedded above, but you can find the new American-release trailer on Moviefone). In the film she plays a character who is the very opposite of Amelie. She’s a shallow gold digger rather than a selfless romantic, the whore rather than the Madonna. She’s also sexy rather than cute, which is only a matter of antithesis in the movies.

Is this going against type? Or does she not necessarily have a star persona to begin with? After falling in love with Tautou in Amelie, I watched every one of the actress’ films available in the States, and I quickly realized that she rarely resembles Amelie. Only in Happenstance, which was sold in some markets as Amelie 2, was she close to acting like that beloved, iconic character. And she certainly wasn’t all whimsy and sainthood in either of her English-language films, The Da Vinci Code and Dirty Pretty Things. So why do I still have this idea of Tautou being Amelie in the same way we think of Chaplin as the Tramp or any of the other many movie stars who consistently play(ed) themselves and/or a recognizable persona throughout their career? Why do I expect her to be a sweet, innocent type in every new role?

It may have something to do with my being introduced to Tautou with Amelie or it could be the strength of the character’s impression. Either way, I’m surely not alone in my continued infatuation, and I wonder how many others will feel weird about seeing the actress in Priceless. I find it interesting that Samuel Goldwyn is selling the movie as starring “Amelie’s Audrey Tautou” rather than capitalizing on her being in The Da Vinci Code, which was seen by far, far, far more people. Sure, I understand that the film is being marketed to a crowd that is familiar with foreign films (”The Valet’s Gad Elmaleh” is also used to sell the film), but since this is such a generic mistaken-identity type of situation comedy, it could possibly be appealing to a larger audience. Maybe The Da Vinci Code’s Audrey Tautou could star in the Hollywood remake?

Priceless hits U.S. theaters on March 28.