Definitely the opening film, “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn squats the spotlight on this first day of the Cannes Film Festival. His film has already sparked the controversy with the rise of the steps of Johnny Depp, the day before, banned from American film sets since the trials which opposed him to his ex-wife Amber Heard on the background of accusations of domestic violence. At the usual press conference for an opening film today, the ‘Polisse’ director opened up about why she chose the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star actor to play Louis XV in his new costume work.
When asked about the little Cannes question-and-answer game, Luc Besson’s ex-wife confirmed that she had offered the role to “French actors she adored” including Gérard Depardieu, as revealed Liberation in a portrait of the actress-director. “I wanted to be loyal to my desire, explains Maïwenn at first. The desire is much more important than a French actor imperatively. I wanted to vibrate for the actor especially since I was playing in it and I was going to kiss him. I preferred to have a sexy actor” she concludes in front of a hilarious press.
This statement should be variously appreciated on the Croisette. In particular on the side of the signatories of a forum published by the daily Liberation, a collective of actresses and actors, including Julie Gayet and Laure Calamy, who criticized an edition on Tuesday, which rolls out “the red carpet to the men and women who attack”, in direct reference to Johnny Depp and the director Maïwenn. “By rolling out the red carpet to the men and women who attack, the festival sends the message that in our country we can continue to exercise violence with complete impunity, that violence is acceptable in places of creation”, adds the text. .
“Domination and Silence”
The 123 signatories emphasize that “French cinema has integrated a dysfunctional system that crushes and annihilates”, a “system based on the principles of domination and silencing”.
Johnny Depp, who sits as Louis XV in the opening film, “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn had also counter-attacked in a press conference this Wednesday morning, calling what was said about him “horrible fiction”. “There are people who want to believe what they want to believe, but the truth is the truth. (…) During the last five, six years, the majority of what you have read is horrible fiction,” he said at a press conference.
“Most of what you read is horrible fiction”: Johnny Depp responds to his detractors
Asked if he still considered himself boycotted by Hollywood, he replied, “No, not at all.” Before specifying: “I do not feel boycotted because I do not think of Hollywood”. “It’s a strange and funny time when everyone wants to be themselves but can’t… You have to toe the line,” he added.
He joked about the word “comeback” used by the media to describe his return. “Apparently I’ve had 17 returns so far…I haven’t gone anywhere.”