During a tense moment at the Cannes Film Festival Jury media conference on Tuesday, juror Brie Larson was asked if she’ll be attending the premiere of the new Johnny Depp film “Jeanne du Barry,” as an outspoken advocate of Time’s Up.
“You’re asking me that?” Larson replied. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the correlation or why me specifically.” When pressed further, the Oscar-winning actress said, “You’ll see, I guess, if I will see it. And I don’t know how I’ll feel about it if I do.”
Depp’s film is not playing in competition and thus Larson, as a Cannes juror, is not required to see it. The premiere is Tuesday night.
The film marks the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor’s first major leading role following the legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard. A jury found both parties responsible for separate instances of defamation in June, but awarded Depp $15 million (reduced to $10.4 million by state law), with Heard winning a $2 million judgment. Heard had accused Depp of domestic violence.
Larson has been an outspoken advocate for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, and memorably chose not to applaud when presenting Casey Affleck his Oscar for Best Actor due to accusations against him. She later said the action “spoke for itself.”
The “Captain Marvel” star serves on the 2023 Cannes jury alongside Paul Dano, Julia Ducournau, Moroccan writer-director Maryam Touzani, who was in Cannes last year with “The Blue Caftan”; French actor Denis Menochet, who recently appeared in Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid”; Zambian/British writer-director Rungano Nyoni, whose “I’m Not a Witch” premiered in Cannes; Afghan novelist and writer-director Atiq Rahimi, whose film work often adapts his own bestselling books; and Argentinian writer-director Damian Szifron, who landed an Oscar nomination for his 2014 Cannes film “Wild Tales.”
Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, who won the Palme d’Or last year for “Triangle of Sadness,” is the president of the jury.
