At Cannes, Demi Moore congratulated Mike Faist, Sophie Wilde and the new generation of stars
Go to the rooftop of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes Croisette, Mike Faist trying to hold back tears. He lost his father in December and his grandfather just three weeks later, and on Thursday he found himself deeply moved at the film’s world premiere. Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppolaself-funded epic of. This is Faist’s first day participating in the festival. “It may be [Coppola’s] my last and my first—I don’t take it lightly, and I don’t take my days for granted anymore,” Faist told me. “I’ve been having a bit of a meltdown over the past few weeks, because Challenger has emerged and I’ve been telling people that, in the next five or 10 years, we may lose some of our greatest giants. And it really hurts. That’s very sad for me.” He choked up and stopped to collect himself: “I feel emotional thinking about it.”
The night before, there was Faist in a tuxedo, reeling in his best screen work to date — from said work Challenger to his outstanding work in Steven Spielberg‘S West Side Story— came to thunderous applause before he accepted the night’s final Chopard Trophée, an official honor of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival given to rising stars. It’s been a whirlwind weekend for the actor who recently burst onto the scene with his hot tennis drama, starring in it. Zendaya And Josh O’Connor. He sees that film’s theatrical success and the promise of Cannes’ cinematic art as precisely the spirit he wants to promote in the industry: “It is an inhuman thing to just sit alone in apartment and mindlessly click on whatever comes next to the streaming problem,” he said. “We have to bring people together in those common spaces.”
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Demi Moore shared a similar view shortly before—notable because she came to Cannes not as a Chopard Trophée honoree but as its esteemed Godmother, a prestigious title reserved for desktop icons. Oh, and also chaired the amfAR gala, a benefit for HIV/AIDS research that she organized 27 years ago (the last time she was in Cannes). OH, And like the star of Matter—a feast of body horror from the director Coralie Fargeat it’s one of the hottest competitive titles left. “It feels like completing a circle,” she said. (I also spoke with Moore in a career chat Sunday at the nearby American Pavilion.)
The Chopard dinner is one of the glitziest, star-studded events of a glitzy, star-studded festival. Attended the Carlton Beach Club (yes, we walked on the sand in tuxedos and gowns) with Moore, Faist and other honorees Sophie Wilde was Moore’s A-list colleague in Hollywood Kevin Costner, Competition jury members include Greta Gerwig And Omar Sy, and beloved works of art such as Vicky Krieps. The event began with a speech by the festival’s General Delegate Thierry Fremaux and chairman Iris Knobloch, before Moore took the stage to speak on behalf of Faist and Wilde.
“This place not only represents the pinnacle of cinematic art, but also a place where dreams come through frames and stories, and the location isn’t too shabby either,” Moore said. “I assume you need nothing from me and have all the resources within you to handle anything that comes your way. But as your appointed Godmother, remember, I’m not just here to entertain and you don’t have to do it alone.”
