‘How Is She Wearing Fur?’: Unprecedented Venice Heat Wave Leaves A-List Stars and Their Handlers Dripping in Sweat
“Oh my God, it’s so hot, I’m so hot!” exclaimed Nicole Kidman as she entered the Sala Grande, the central Venice Film Festival cinema, for the world premiere of her erotic thriller “Babygirl,” fanning her face and airing her neck under the very welcome (but not quite powerful enough) air conditioning. “It’s so much cooler in here!” she then told a fan as she posed for a selfie.
As it happens, Kidman was speaking on behalf of practically every festival attendee.
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If the buzzword of Venice last year was strikes, for 2024 it’s — unquestionably — sweat. Buckets of the stuff. So much so that even A-listers like Kidman, whose lofty existences should see them unconcerned by such a lowly matter as perspiration, have been struggling to cope.
“It’s the topic everyone is talking about in Venice,” says one stylist. “Everyone is sweating.”
An unprecedented and prolonged heatwave across Italy over the last week (fuelled by a lingering African anticyclone, FYI) has seen thermometers soar into the upper 80 degrees Fahrenheit, turning much of the festival into a muggy, dripping, sodden mess within seconds of any outdoor exposure. Even under the shade there’s been no escape.
But while it may have been a somewhat unpleasant experience for the average guest (especially those lugging heavy bags around or getting the comically overcrowded vaporettos back and forth from the Lido to the main city of Venice), spare a thought for the poor celebrities.
Because not only have they been squeezing into an array of high fashion for the red carpet premieres and parties, but they’ve been facing thousands of camera lenses ready to pick up every bead of sweat, glistening forehead or damp patch in dazzling high-definition.
According to an insider, A-listers having been telling their publicists they are “dreading the red carpet because of the heat.”
At the premiere for the Apple TV+ crime caper “Wolfs” on Sunday night, George Clooney was seen wiping sweat from his brow and wafting his tuxedo jacket to give himself an airing. At this premiere — and several others Variety witnessed — photographers came equipped with mini fans in an attempt to cool down their overheating subjects (one of which was reportedly seen being given to Brad Pitt’s girlfriend Ines de Ramon to help her cope).
But other attempts to stay chilled have only got in the way of those trying to enjoy their red carpet moment. As he waited in the official — and rather toasty — festival car to be dropped off at the “Babygirl” premiere, producer David Hinojosa (who also produced “The Brutalist”) says he got someone to pass him a bottle of San Pellegrino for some much-needed hydration. However he subsequently found himself awkwardly clutching the bottle as he made his “movie star” exit from the vehicle in front of the cameras, which then caught him trying to hide it on the floor behind the billowing white dress of “Babygirl” director Halina Reijn. A friend subsequently sent him the video.
And even away from the festival and the glare of the lights, things are little better. One stylist notes that Venice is “full of paparazzi” from the minute stars land, meaning they have to quickly find a place to change as brands have likely given them outfits, sunglasses and other accessories for every occasion, including the “arriving look, the welcoming look and the red carpet look.” On that note, a publicist tells Variety she got off a water taxi in the main part of Venice to find “Guy Pearce dripping in sweat having selfies with other people drenched in sweat.”
But there’s an interesting — and sweaty — issue about the clothes many stars in Venice are being dressed in, something Giulletta Canzani Mora, founder of image and management company Good Sisters, says is a clash between the “temporality of the Mostra and the temporality of fashion seasons.”
Essentially, as the festival takes place at the end of the Summer, Mora says brands are only interested in pushing their fall and winter collections. So on the sweatbox of the festival red carpet, the options offered by fashion labels to their celebrity ambassadors hasn’t exactly been loose light linens or breezy cotton fabrics.
“We were presented with red carpet looks in velvet and wool, but we said, ‘No way! We can’t dress like this with the heat!’,” says Mora. For all the protests, festival watchers have spotted many men sporting velvet tuxes (“I was worried for his life,” noted one).
But Mora — who happens to be married to prominent French actor Jonathan Cohen — says she was working with Angelia Woreth, starring in Venice competition title “And Their Children After Time,” and allowed her client to brave the humidity wearing jeans and a sequin jacket. “She was very hot,” she notes. “But it was a very important moment for her and she was determined to wear the outfit.”
It’s not only the outfits that are proving a problem.
“We’re praying, that’s all we can do,” says makeup artist Iván Gómez, a prominent makeup artistic and hair stylist who worked with Poppy Delevingne, as well as úrsula Corberó, star of “Casa de Papel” who presented “El Jockey” at Venice. But what is he praying for? “That the product stays in place, because humidity is the worst condition, and combined with a festival setting where people get emotional … it’s a recipe for sweat.”
“Out of all the festivals I do, Venice is the worst because of humidity. Here it’s hell,” notes Gómez, who also laments the fact he’s expected to work in black tie.
Besides over-using oil control blotting sheets and matifier primers, Gómez says he also carries four or five little fans every where he goes.
But the hair situation gets even worse when clients want to have what Gómez describes as a “loose natural style.” He styled Poppy Delevingne’s hair in what was meant to be a “super cool effortless look” at Venice, but while he says it looked great at the hotel, “30 minutes she looked like a complete mess.”
Gómez says he did the makeup for an unnamed — and extremely prominent — actress and producer for Venice’s glitzy amFar gala, but noticed that her hairstylist had added a “lot of product” for what was supposed to be a classic, smooth and glam ponytail.
“And the smooth ponytail became a total rock-and-roll ponytail by the time she stepped on the red carpet,” he says. “It’s so sad because it was like she made a statement to look rock-and-roll, even though it was not at all her intention!”
But not all stars are equal in the heat department.
Nicholas Hoult was somehow pictured looking relatively fresh for “The Order” photocall wearing a Bottega Veneta Wales wool jacket. The fashion label then assured Variety that the was made of wool and cotton, thus “making it much more light weight and breathable.” At the “The Brutalist” world premiere, despite kicking off during the peak heat time of 3pm (and in a screening room one audience member said was “one of the hottest” due to a scrum to get in) writer/director Brady Corbet incredibly managed to appear wholly at ease in a full tuxedo with bow tie.
But it was Angelina Jolie who raised the most eyebrows (most no doubt a little moist), turning up for the premiere of “Maria” wearing a faux fur stole and looking entirely unfazed by the brutal heat and every inch the Hollywood icon (and one possibly on her way to an Oscar nomination should the awards watchers be correct). Jolie then proceeded to spend time on the red carpet happily doing interviews and posing for photographs with fans.
But how was this possible? Was there a miniature battery-operated air conditioning unit secretly sewn inside the fur?
“If anyone has the answer about the fur please tell me,” noted one publicist.
Should a similar punishing heatwave return next year, the Venice Film Festival could seriously begin to have a problem attracting big Hollywood names when the likes of Telluride and Toronto offer more cooling, sweat-free climes.
As an insider tells Variety, there have already been suggestions that “Venice moves to October.”
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