All eyes were on actress Florence Pugh as she walked the Venice International Film Festival red carpet for the premiere of her new movie, Don’t Worry Darling.
Just hours after ditching the film’s scheduled press conference this morning – during which director Olivia Wilde dodged questions about their rumoured feud – 26-year-old Pugh took her place with the rest of the cast at the film’s premiere.
While she posed briefly with Wilde and castmates Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Sydney Chandler, Chris Pine and Nick Kroll, Pugh mostly spend time with her surprising date: her grandmother, Pat.
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The pair appeared in good spirits as they posed and smiled for photographers.
Pat was also by Pugh’s side when the actress arrived in Venice for the festivities.
“I’m here. With Granzo Pat,” the actress captioned an image of them on Instagram.
Recently, Pugh revealed her grandmother’s thoughts on her fashion choices – namely that sheer pink Valentino dress the Little Women star wore two months ago to Valentino‘s haute couture show in Rome, Italy. The dress proved controversial and sparked a “free the nipple” debate.
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“I went to see my gran, and she goes, ‘So what’s all of this business about your nipples then?'” she recalled in the recent issue of Harper’s Bazaar. But after being told of the scandal, Pat brushed aside the criticism and “gasped. Because the dress was so beautiful.”
Pugh’s red carpet appearance at Venice comes days after reps confirmed she would attend her film’s premiere but she would not sit on the panel at the Don’t Worry Darling press conference, where Wilde was grilled about a rumoured feud between the pair.
Festival reps said Pugh’s flight to Venice from Hungary — where she is currently on the set of the Dune sequel — was arriving only after the press conference, giving her time to walk the red carpet, but not to speak to media.
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Regardless, journalists at the press conference still asked Wilde to “clear the air” about the rumours surrounding their supposedly strained relationship.
“Florence is a force. We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight [for the red carpet]. I’m grateful to her, and to [Dune director Denis Villeneuve] for helping us. I can’t say how honoured I am to have her as our lead,” Wilde said.
“As for all the endless tabloid gossip out there, the Internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute; I think it’s sufficiently self-nourished.”
While Pugh will not be doing any interviews while at Venice, therefore she will not address the supposed feud with Wilde, the actress’ stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray appeared to casually mention it on Instagram.
“Miss Flo,” Corbin-Murray captioned red-carpet and behind-the-scenes pics of Pugh.
The nickname “Miss Flo” was the same term Wilde used to refer to the actress in a leaked video where the director was trying to keep actor Shia LaBeouf from departing the film due to creative issues with Pugh. LaBeouf was eventually replaced with Styles.
“I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I, too, am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,” Wildes says in the video. “You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us.”
“If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point and if you guys can make peace – and I respect your point of view, I respect hers – but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?”
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