Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling has its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last night – but it’s not only the movie that has got people talking.
The film, starring Olivia’s boyfriend Harry Styles and Florence Pugh in the lead roles, has been dogged by controversies in recent weeks including cast feuds, on set romances and firings.
And the behaviour between director Olivia and the stars of the film as the held a press conference and walked the red carpet definitely added more fuel to the rumours.
Lead star Florence, who takes on the role of Harry’s repressed wife in the film, arrived late – reportedly with a drink in her hand - missing the press conference completely.
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The festival explained Florence had been in Budapest filming for upcoming movie Dune and her flight would not get in until after the press junket.
Interestingly, her Dune co-star Timothée Chalamet managed to make it to support his new film Bones & All in its entirety, which premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival a day earlier.
After announcing: ‘I’m here’ on Instagram, the 26-year-old went on to wow on the red carpet in a dazzling Valentino gown as she brought her grandma as her date.
She was spotted laughing and joking with co-star Chris Pine and cuddling up to female cast mates Gemma Chan and Sydney Chandler for a photo.
But there didn’t seem to be any interactions at all between her and Olivia – who turned up separately from boyfriend Harry, perhaps to avoid any ‘official couple’ speculation which might overshadow the film.
The couple, who have reportedly been dating for over a year, were also careful not to stand next to each other on the red carpet in group photos.
In frosty shots, Olivia and Florence don’t appear to even look at each other, which seems to confirm all is not well - even if neither of them are commenting on it.
Olivia dodged questions about a possible fall out with Oscar nominee Florence at a press conference before the premiere.
She told reporters: “Florence is a force. We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight despite being in a production for Dune.
“I know, as a director, how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day, so I’m very grateful to her and to [Dune director] Denis Villeneuve for helping us.
“We’ll get to celebrate her work tonight. I can’t say how honoured I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing.”
“As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there,” Olivia continued: “the Internet feeds itself.”
She added: “I don’t feel the need to contribute – I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
Florence, on the other hand, appeared to make a dig at the rumoured feud as she gave interviews on the red carpet.
Addressing what makes her role in the film inspiring, she said: “I think it’s very, very inspiring to see a woman push back and say no and question everything.”
“It’s very exciting to see a woman do that in and out – and off camera,” she added.
One of the reasons Florence and Olivia reportedly clashed is over the director’s blossoming relationship with Harry on set.
The couple later went public with their relationship as they held hands at a friend's wedding in January 2021.
A source told the New York Post that Florence didn’t consider it to be very professional.
"I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well," the insider told the publication.
Back at the press conference, Olivia was also asked about Shia LeBeouf who was reportedly sacked from the film – and replaced at the last-minute by Harry Styles.
The Transformers star, 36, claims to have quit the film due to scheduling issues, but 38-year-old Olivia said she sacked him to "protect" her cast.
Shortly after he left the film, Shia was accused of sexual battery by his ex-girlfriend, British singer FKA Twigs. A court case is due to take place in April next year.
Speaking to Variety , she said: "His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions.
"I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work. Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them."
The question at last night’s premiere was blocked by a press conference moderator so Olivia could not respond.
Elsewhere, a clip of Chris Pine looking bored and ‘zoning out’ of the press conference has gone viral.
The 42-year-old had the best reaction to a bizarre quote by Harry Styles, who he was sat next to at the time.
Seeming to babble, Harry told press: “You know my favourite thing about the movie is it feels like a movie.
“It feels like a real like go to the theatre film movie that you know kind of... the reason why you go to watch something on the big screen.”
One Twitter user reposted the clip with the words: “You can almost see the screams catching in his throat” in reference to Chris’ response.
Later in the evening fans were convinced Harry had spat on Chris at the premiere.
Footage shared by a number of fans shows a dapper-looking Harry in a blue suit and light blue shirt with a huge collar make his way to his assigned seat while the audience applauses.
As he does so, Chris, 42, wearing a light brown suit jacket, beige trousers and a bow tie, claps his co-star before suddenly stopping after Harry prepares to take his seat.
Some fans believe his look of disbelief, which was followed by a stunned laughter, was because the singer-turned-actor has spat in his direction.
While much has been written about the film before anyone has even seen it yet, critics who saw the premiere didn’t seem too impressed.
“Style’s accent is intentionally dodgy, but the rest of Olivia’s Wilde’s unconvincing tale of dystopian suburbia does not have the same excuse,” said a scathing review from The Guardian.
“Harry Styles is charisma-free in Olivia’s Wilde’s messy sci-fi thriller,” wrote The Independent giving it three stars.
The BBC called Don’t Worry Darling an “empty shell” movie “laden with half-baked, risk-free ideas that do little to shock or stir”.
Giving it two stars, The Times simply said: “It’s not very good” and branded it a “slapdash re-imagining of The Stepford Wives”.
Others were more forgiving, with The Telegraph calling the film “largely fantastic, the sort of juicy but accessible studio production that have all but vanished since the 1990s.”
Praising Florence’s performance, they added: “Thing keep barrelling along thanks to both Pugh and the plot’s punchy critique of certain recent trends in the internet’s more testosterone-raddled dark corners. With a smudgy red-lipsticked grin, Don’t Worry Darling drags them out into the blazing desert light.”
While British GQ said: “Don’t let the memes fool you – Harry Styles is good in Don’t Worry Darling.”
*Don’t Worry Darling is release in UK cinemas on September 23
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