In the latest installment of the “Don’t Worry Darling” press saga, Florence Pugh will not attend the New York Q&A for the Olivia Wilde-directed movie, which made its debut at the Venice Film Festival on Monday.
Taking place on Sept. 19, the fan-centered event will feature a first-look at the movie four days ahead of its wide release, as well as a Q&A with Wilde and stars Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Sydney Chandler, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali and Douglas Smith. The Q&A will be held live at New York City’s AMC Lincoln Square Imax Theatre and will be livestreamed to over 100 additional participating Imax theaters across North America.
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Reasons for Pugh’s absence were not stated, but the actor is currently in production on “Dune: Part Two.” Nonetheless, it comes as no surprise, as Pugh has avoided doing much press at all for “Don’t Worry Darling.” Although she walked the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival this week, she did not participate in the cast Q&A.
The lead-up to “Don’t Worry Darling,” which will debut in theaters on Sept. 23, has been riddled with controversy and speculation over Pugh’s relationship with Wilde. At Venice, the two did not pose together on the red carpet, nor did they embrace or look at each other much after the screening ended. The Venice audience gave the film a four-minute standing ovation.
“Florence is a force,” Wilde said at the film’s Venice press conference when asked to “clear the air” about the rumors. “We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight [for the red carpet] despite being in production on ‘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. And we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight. I can’t say how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing. As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the Internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute; I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
Rolling Stone reported the news first.
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