Actress Lea Seydoux tests positive, may miss Cannes
Lea Seydoux, who was to appear next week at the Cannes Film Festival, has tested positive for COVID-19 in Paris
James Bond actress Lea Seydoux, who was to appear next week at the Cannes Film Festival, where organisers are trying to keep COVID-19 contagion in check, has tested positive for COVID-19 in Paris, entertainment site Variety reported on Saturday. The world’s biggest cinema showcase, which kicked off on the French Riviera on July 6 and has so far drawn stars from around the world despite health crisis restrictions, was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s reboot is taking place amid rising cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus in France, although vaccinations are also progressing and festival organisers are running tight testing checks on atendees.
French actress Seydoux is one of big stars of this year’s edition, with four films showing at Cannes, and three in its main competition, including Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”, which was premiered on Monday. Variety cited a spokesperson for Seydoux as confirming her positive test despite being fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. The spokesperson said she would remain in quarantine for now. Reuters could not immediately reach her publicist and film representatives for comment. It was not immediately clear whether she would cancel her appearances.
Festival organisers, who helped set up a free saliva testing centre for COVID-19 close to the site where stars approach the red carpet, said there were no signs of a “Cannes cluster.” Several thousand people atending the festival were tested on Friday and none tested positive, a spokesperson said. Hollywood stars, including Mat Damon, have made the trip to France for Cannes’ return, though atendance overall is down from previous years and veterans said there were far fewer glitzy parties, oten held on yachts off the coast.
On Saturday, Cannes organizers trumpeted the success of the festival, which is requiring either proof of full vaccination or a negative test within 48 hours for entry to the festival hub. Masks are required inside theatres. Cannes is also testing around 4,000 people daily. Frémaux, artistic director of the festival, said on Saturday there were zero positive tests on Friday. She began her acting career in French cinema, appearing in films such as “The Last Mistress” (2007) and “On War” (2008). She first came to atention ater she received her first César Award nomination, for her performance in “The Beautiful Person” (2008), and won the Trophée Chopard.
Since then, Seydoux has appeared in major Hollywood films including Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), Ridley Scot’s Robin Hood (2010), Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011) and the action film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011). In French cinema, she was nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress for a second time for her role in Belle Épine (2010) and was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress for her role as a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinete in the film Farewell, My Queen (2012). She gained international atention for her appearance as Bond girl Madeleine Swann in “Spectre” (2015), and will reprise the role in “No Time to Die” (2021).