At Cannes with days left, Miles Teller said he’s done profiles after an Esquire piece left him feeling misquoted and violated. Judith Godrèche pushed a firm feminist approach to filming sex and consent in “A Girl’s Story,” while Pedro Almodóvar used his “Bitte
Cannes keeps rolling with just a couple days left, and Day 9 delivered exactly the kind of mix the festival is known for: star talk, filmmaker principle, and arguments about what art owes to the world.
Miles Teller’s comments set an immediate tone. The “Paper Tiger” star said he hasn’t sat down for a profile interview in over a decade—and he traced that decision to a painful experience with an Esquire profile that. in his view. reduced him to “kind of a dick.” Teller told Indiewire that the whole thing felt mishandled. and that the real problem wasn’t just how it looked on the page.
He explained that he avoids profiles because they can go wrong when the interview isn’t handled on camera. “Wow. ” he said he thought. “if I’m not doing this interview on camera. this person can misquote things or put things out of order or say things that didn’t happen.” From there. it became a boundary he didn’t want to cross again. Teller added that he told his team. “Guys. I don’t think I’m doing this again. ” because he’d read the piece and felt it didn’t sound like him. “This is not life. ” he said. questioning why he’d ever be part of something where that kind of distortion could happen.
Teller also tied his refusal to a broader frustration about how audiences respond. He said it’s “unfortunate that being a good person. that doesn’t sell. ” adding that “people want to click on the negativity.” Despite his complaints about press coverage. his “Paper Tiger” performance has landed well. with the film earning positive reviews and turning out to be one of the best-received titles of the festival.
Not long after, filmmaker Judith Godrèche put her focus on what happens behind the camera. Speaking with MISRYOUM newsroom coverage through a conversation with “A Girl’s Story. ” her Cannes 2026 premiere centers on a 17-year-old girl’s experience with sex and consent. and Godrèche framed the film’s approach as inseparable from responsibility.
“Making cinema responsibly matters most,” she said. She talked about how violence must be filmed “in a feminist way. ” and how the set should be structured so performers feel safe. She pointed to the practical side of that belief—how a performer should be able to request an intimacy coordinator. how scenes are properly framed. and why the “first time” matters when someone begins a career with healthy working conditions. “When you begin your career in a healthy environment. ” she said. “knowing what good conditions look like—it sets the tone for the future.” In contrast. she warned that starting in a difficult context can train people to accept harm as normal.
Godrèche didn’t stop at principle. She described strict and clear boundaries on set as a way to protect performers. saying. “Actors are not supposed to live the violence.” She called acting “a job. ” and emphasized what concerns her about treating it like a permission slip: “the idea that because it’s your passion. anything can be asked of you and you can’t say no.” That. she argued. creates a dangerous “grey zone.” With an intimacy coordinator. she said. the fantasy that actors must “live” violence can be dismantled. A “precise framework. ” “agreed boundaries. ” and rehearsals—all of it. she said—turns what could be exploitation into something controlled and consensual.
If Godrèche made her case from the set outward, Pedro Almodóvar pressed from society into art. At the press conference for his new film “Bitter Christmas. ” the filmmaker drew applause for saying. “Europe should never be subjected to Trump.” Then he used the moment to challenge artists to do more than entertain.
“I don’t want to judge anyone. ” Almodóvar said. but he argued that artists “have to speak out about the situation in which they live in contemporary society” because it’s a “moral duty.” He warned that silence and fear are not neutral. “Silence and fear is a symptom that things are going badly. ” he said. adding. “It’s a serious sign democracy is crumbling.” He ended with an insistence that creators can’t hide behind caution: “Creators must speak out… the worst thing that could happen would be to remain silent or to be censored. We have a moral obligation to speak out.”.
Teller’s anger at how profiles can distort a person. Godrèche’s insistence on boundaries so violence isn’t treated as inevitable. and Almodóvar’s demand that artists can’t stay quiet in public life all landed in the same stretch of Cannes attention—three different worlds. but one recurring question about power: who gets to frame the story. and who pays when it’s framed wrong.
Miles Teller Cannes Paper Tiger Esquire profile Judith Godrèche A Girl’s Story intimacy coordinator consent Pedro Almodóvar Bitter Christmas Europe Trump artists speak out