Cate Blanchett charmed Venice Film Festival on Thursday night as Alfonso Cuarón’s new erotic Apple TV+ series “Disclaimer” received a five-minute standing ovation.
The two-time Oscar winner was the star attraction on the Lido, with the crowd inside the Sala Grande bursting into applause when she made her entrance ahead of the screening. Blanchett was dressed in a sleek black pantsuit with an open back draped in pearls, while co-star Sacha Baron Cohen went 007-style with a white tuxedo jacket.
Adding some Gen-Z kudos to the occasion, singer Olivia Rodrigo was in attendance in support of her boyfriend Louis Partridge, who also stars in the series. However, she didn’t walk the carpet and sat a few seats away from the actor. After the screening, she ignored attempts by several members of the crowd to catch her attention as they shouted “Olivia!”
Earlier in the day at the “Disclaimer” press conference, Blanchett was asked about the dress she wore to the premiere of “The Apprentice” at Cannes Film Festival in May — the colors of which many interpreted as a being pro-Palestinian statement — and whether something similar could be expected in Venice. However, she skirted the question, joking that she would be “going naked.” That clearly didn’t end up being the case.
“Disclaimer,” a seven-episode psychological thriller series based on Renée Knight’s 2015 book of the same name, stars Blanchett as a famed documentary journalist who discovers she is the primary character in a novel that threatens to reveal her deepest, darkest secret. The series also stars Baron Cohen, Partridge, Kevin Kline, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Hoyeon, Lesley Manville and Leila George.
All seven episodes of “Disclaimer” are set to screen out of competition at Venice Film Festival. The Oscar-winning actress is no stranger to Venice, having won the Volpi Cup award for best actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There” and again in 2022 for her performance in Todd Field’s “Tár.”
Award-winning director Cuarón also has quite the history at the festival, opening the 2010 edition of the festival with “Gravity,” starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. He would go on to win the Oscar for best directing for the film. In 2015, Cuarón served as the president of Venice Film Festival’s jury, and his film “Roma” took home the Golden Lion in 2018 before earning Cuarón his second best directing award at the Oscars. Prior to “Disclaimer,” his last venture in television was the 2014 fantasy drama series “Believe.”
“Disclaimer” is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on Oct. 11.
From Variety US