Extremely interesting for a variety (no pun intended) of reasons.
Before you posted that I was going to make a post to say that while it could very well be that yesterday's report in Variety was in error, I wasn't willing to completely discount its accuracy just yet for two reasons. The first being that, unlike the other Web sites that are reporting on Bella Heathcote's potential casting, Variety is a respected entertainment industry publication that has enjoyed an over 100 year reputation for accurate industry reporting. Of course that doesn't preclude them from making mistakes on occasion - but the thing about Variety's standing in the industry and what helps it to maintain its accurate reporting reputation is that much of its info is supplied directly from the press departments of the studios, producers, directors, actors, films, TV shows, plays, etc. being reported on. If the info about Bella Heathcote's character being a waitress was in error, one would think that after reading the article the Depp/DS film's press rep would have contacted Variety's writer so that the article would have been corrected. I've already mentioned that the article had had some changes made to it between the time I first read it and I went back to get a copy of it to post here - yet the waitress reference was not one of the things that was changed. And I was going to add that the waitress reference is still in the article today. If the reference is in error, then whoever the press rep for the Depp/DS film is is quite obviously not doing their job because their job isn't simply to supply info, but also to make sure what gets printed - especially on places like Variety's Web site - is accurate. So, the second reason that I wasn't quite willing to believe Variety had made a mistake was that the waitress reference is still there today.
However, today's development takes the situation to a whole different level because of the fact that Variety has not only published a second report that references Bella Heathcote's character as a waitress, but the report is written by a totally different writer than handled yesterday's article. So, in all probability, it's not simply a case that the same writer is repeating an assumption that he'd made on his own. It would seem to appear to be a case that someone is handing them the waitress reference - and that's why they're reporting it.
One thing, though, that I'm not quite sure what to make of with regard to both yesterday's and today's articles is that nowhere in either is the character name of Victoria Winters mentioned. And what makes that even more interesting is 1) Depp has always been identified as playing Barnabas, and 2) today's report does actually say that Eva Green "would portray the temptress Angelique, a role played by Lara Parker in the supernatural TV soap opera during its run from 1966 to 1971." Yet when it comes to Bella Heathcote, it's simply that she "would play a waitress."