Cannes: Festival First-Timer Brie Larson Looks Like She Had a Blast Dancing on Red Carpet at Opening Ceremony

At Tuesday’s press conference in Cannes featuring this year’s competition jury, Oscar winner Brie Larson was asked to recall her reaction upon receiving the call to serve. “I care so much about this medium and so to be in the company of these people I admire so much is a huge honor,” she answered.

Larson channeled that into what looked like exhilaration hours later as she hit the Palais red carpet for the first time in making her Cannes debut, wearing a Chanel gown accessorized with the luxury fashion house’s high jewelry. After exiting the car, Larson was all smiles, expressive faces and the pièce de résistance — a dance break at the top of the iconic stairs — before entering the venue for the night’s opening ceremony and a screening of Maïwenn’s Johnny Depp-starrer Jeanne du Barry.

The festival and its pomp and circumstance typically delivers high energy amid the glitz and glamour (and diamonds galore), and Larson looked to be soaking it all in on what was surely a demanding first day in the job. The schedule included a festival photo call and press conference alongside fellow jurors like president Ruben Östlund, Paul Dano, Titane-directing Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau, I Am Not a Witch breakout filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, actor Denis Ménochet, Argentinian director Damián Szifron, Afghani-born, French-based filmmaker Atig Ranimi and Moroccan director Maryam Touzani.

As is protocol, they then arrived together for the evening festivities as they posed before the crush of photographers as a team, one that also entered the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière together. During the official ceremony, which also saw an honorary Palme d’Or go to Michael Douglas, the jury members received introductions one-by-one as they took the stage in front of a starry crowd that included Depp, Maïwenn and guests like Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, Naomi Campbell, Catherine Denueve, Uma Thurman, Mads Mikkelsen, Fan Bingbing, Cindy Bruna and more.

Also during that aforementioned press conference, Cannes newbie Larson fielded a question from Variety about Depp and whether she would see the out of competition Jeanne du Barry — due to her history of advocacy for sexual assault survivors and as a former member of the Time’s Up advisory board amid the controversy surrounding the film — Larson said firmly, “You’ll see if I see it, and I don’t know how I’ll feel about it if I do.”

She shook off the exchange and looked like she had the time of her life in a showing that is happily reminiscent of Will Smith’s jury debut in 2017. See photographic evidence below of Larson’s joyful time in Cannes thus far.