Following the world premiere of Cannes opening film Jeanne Du Barry, the film’s director and star Maïwenn, and co-star Johnny Depp, arriving late, fielded a slew of fiery questions at an overcrowded festival press conference today (May 17).
Depp was absent from the pre-conference photo call, sparking French journalist and conference moderator Didier Allouch to announce the conference would start as planned – nearly 30 minutes late – and that Depp would join later, which he did accompanied by festival director Thierry Fremaux.
When he did arrive, Depp was asked about being “boycotted” by the big studios after his UK and US court cases following the breakdown of his marriage to Amber Heard.
He said: “Of course, when you’re asked to resign from a film you’re in [Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore] because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, you feel a bit boycotted.
“Do I feel boycotted now? Not at all, but I don’t feel boycotted by Hollywood because I don’t think about Hollywood. I don’t have much further need for Hollywood myself.”
“It’s a very strange, funny time,” he added, “where everybody would love to be themselves but they can’t because they must fall in line with the person in front of them, You want to live that kind of life, I wish you the best, I’ll be on the other side somewhere.”
The film’s on-screen drama about a scandal that rocked the 18th century royal court, has played second fiddle to its very public off-screen to-do about the controversial comeback of Depp following his two high-profile court cases in 2022 (one he lost, one he won) and Maïwenn recently admitting to attacking a French journalist in Paris earlier in the year.
“I protect myself”
Both Depp and Maïwenn did not dodge any questions from the press in the room, but both took strides to shift the focus to the film itself.
Maïwenn said she doesn’t pay attention to the press – “I protect myself” - but said the Cannes media frenzy “is part of the game. It’s not my first festival, I know how it works,” adding that “The film came out yesterday. It’s doing well. I’m very happy.” Maïwenn said she felt “double the emotion” on Tuesday night as the film premiered both in Cannes and in French theatres on the same night (May 16).
She also took a question about the film being financed by the Red Sea Film Fund. “I’m proud that the film was produced by Saudi Arabians. Their mindsets have evolved. It’s not the first French film produced by Saudis,” she said.
When asked why she chose Depp to play the king of France, Maïwenn said she wanted “an actor that excited me.” She added: “Plus, I knew I’d have to kiss him, so I wanted a sexy actor.”
Depp added: “My question to Maiwenn when we first met was ‘maybe you want to try a French guy as king? She thought about it for a second and said ‘yeah I thought about it too nah I want you to do it. I thought it was very brave of her to choose some hillbilly from Kentucky to play Louis XV.”
Limited seating in the designated conference room meant swarms of journalists were left standing in a long queue and ended up watching the livestream from nearby in le palais after the conference began.
Maïwenn and Depp were joined by their co-stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Pascal Greggory, Pierre Richard, India Hair and Suzanne De Baecque, but most of the questions were thrown at Depp as soon as he arrived.
Depp said of the attention, however: “I keep wondering about the word ‘comeback’ because I didn’t go anywhere.” He continued: “Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time but no I didn’t go nowhere.”
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