Brie Larson was left “puzzled” at the Cannes Jury press conference after being singled out by a member of the press to share her thoughts on the Johnny Depp controversy.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Larson was asked how she "felt about Depp's film opening the festival" and if she planned on seeing it.
Taken aback, the Marvel actress responded: "You're asking me that? I'm sorry, I don't understand the correlation or why me specifically."
This, my dear readers, is called deflection. There was no reason for her to be taken aback or puzzled by this question. She’s the most outspoken activist on this year’s Cannes jury, and it’s not even close.
The question was generally a fair one, and I don’t believe Larson’s answer really warrants the praise it’s getting in some circles. Of course, the interviewer probably did try to get a viral soundbite. It’s a lose-lose situation for Larson.
Still, Larson is a gender equality activist and an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She’s, many times, used her fame to speak out on social and political issues, asserting, "I'd put it all on the line and be an activist for the rest of my life because it doesn't feel right to me to be quiet."
In 2018, Larson also collaborated to set up the now defunct Time's Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination.
Larson has made it one of her core principles to talk and bring awareness to these issues and then decided to be on the jury of a fest that programmed a movie starring Johnny Depp. She should have probably just answered the question.