With Johnny Depp making his big-screen return on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival in Jeanne du Barry, after being shut out of Hollywood from battling ex-wife Amber Heard in the courts, festival juror Brie Larson was asked by a reporter at a press conference Tuesday whether she’ll see it.
Larson was asked as an “outspoken advocate for Time’s Up” how she felt about the controversial Depp film being at Cannes.
“You’re asking me that?” The Room Oscar winner pushed back.
“Um, I ‘m sorry, I don’t understand the correlation of why me specifically,” Larson continued.
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The reporter emphasized how the Captain Marvel thespian was on the celebrity advisory council, and that Depp’s court case against The Sun in which he was labeled a “wife beater” was in the spotlight. So, would the actress actually go see his movie.
“I’ll see it when I see it,” Larson said. “I don’t know how I feel about it frankly.”
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Jeanne du Barry is not playing in competition.
The movie’s profile raised even further in the tabloids recently after its director Maiwenn admitted to assaulting a leading French journalist in a recent TV interview. According to reports, Maiwenn approached Mediapart editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel at a restaurant in Paris, and pulled back his head by his hair and then spat in his face.
Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux in a press conference Monday defended his decision in selecting Jeanne du Barry as the kickoff title of the festival’s 76th edition: “I don’t know the image of Johnny Depp in the United States,” he told reporters.
“He is extraordinary in the film in a role which is difficult. I don’t why he was cast. You will have to ask Maïwenn her reasons for choosing him,” the festival boss continued.
“For the rest, I’m the last person to talk to about this because if there is one person in the world who is not interested in this very mediatized process, it’s me. I am interested in Johnny Depp as an actor,” Frémaux said Monday.
In Jeanne du Barry, Depp plays Louis XV in a French-speaking role. While billed as the actor’s big-screen comeback, he reportedly only has 10 minutes of screen time in the pic.
At this afternoon’s jury presser, another Cannes juror, French director Julia Ducournau, emphasized that as a fest judge this year, she’s bringing an “open mindedness.”
“I don’t want to know anything about any movies I’m going to see,” the Raw filmmaker and Palme d’Or-winning director of Titane said. “I want to come fully virgin … every time I get into one of these films.”
