Florence Pugh is not worrying, darlings.
The Little Women star dialled the drama up to 11 when she abruptly bailed on a press conference Monday for her new film, Don’t Worry Darling, during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival — opting to attend only the film’s red carpet premiere later in the day.
Her absence at the press conference fuelled the flames of an onslaught of juicy gossip surrounding the film, which includes — but is certainly not limited to — a purported feud between Florence and the film’s director, Olivia Wilde.
Florence blamed her last-minute cancellation on shooting conflicts involving her role in the “Dune” sequel. Although this sounds like a perfectly reasonable excuse, it should be noted that Timothée Chalamet, who stars in the Dune film franchise, was able to attend both the press conference and the red carpet premiere for his film Bones And All at the festival.
Yet the hot tea that is the Don’t Worry Darling drama hit an absolute boiling point when Florence’s stylist posted a video of the actor strutting in Venice with an Aperol spritz — and deploying some truly bubbly IDGAF vibes — to Instagram.
Considering that Florence had enough time to grab a drink and pose for photos but didn’t have time to talk to reporters — forcing Olivia to field questions about their purported feud to the media solo — was a bit odd. Or “iconic.”
Either way one looks at it, Florence’s breezy, boozy video quickly got the meme treatment on Twitter.
Despite the story surrounding the film seeming way more interesting than the film itself (it scored a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes), Florence has expressed a desire to avoid certain topics about the film. In a Harper’s Bazaar profile published last month, Florence suggested the movie’s marketing has placed too much of an emphasis on sex — and stated that she won’t being talking about it.
When the trailer for Don’t Worry Darling dropped in May, many latched on to fleeting footage of Florence’s co-star Harry Styles performing an act of female pleasure on her character atop a kitchen table.
Basically Florence didn’t want to talk about the sex scenes, but Olivia talked a whole lot about the sex scenes whenever she spoke to the media — expressing the desire to make a movie that showcased female pleasure.
The disconnect in marketing tactics only strengthened the already well-oiled gossip machine.
And, honestly, who wouldn’t want to put out that fire with an Aperol spritz?