Monday is officially Harry Styles Day out on the Lido, as hundreds of the British pop star’s fans have amassed outside the Palazzo del Cinema, where his new film Don’t Worry Darling is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival this evening.
Though the movie, directed by his partner Olivia Wilde, is not set to play until 7 p.m. CET, fans of Styles started lining up this morning before 7 a.m.—more than 12 hours prior to showtime.
“I’m hoping to see him and take a selfie with him, but I don’t know if I can,” one of those fans, Nicole, tells The Daily Beast, citing her place further down the red carpet.
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The 17-year-old traveled about an hour and a half to get to the Lido and began lining up at around 10 a.m. She’s pondering what to write on a giant sign for Styles in blue magic marker as we speak.
Don’t Worry Darling, a psychological drama that sees a 1950s housewife (Florence Pugh) start to question the idyllic life her husband (Harry Styles) has built for her in a desert-oasis community known as the Victory Project, has garnered plenty of buzz prior to its Venice bow—though most of it has concerned off-screen drama ensnaring its director, Olivia Wilde, new beau Styles, her leading lady Pugh, who has declined to participate in the Venice press conference for the film, and Shia LaBeouf, whom Wilde claims was terminated from the project due to a lack of chemistry between the leads and his aggressive behavior (to be replaced by Styles). LaBeouf, who has a long history of not telling the truth, has countered by leaking text messages and video implying otherwise.
One of the most eye-catching signs lining the Venice red carpet comes courtesy of Rebecca, a 16-year-old from Italy. The sign reads, “Since my mother passed away you’re my only reason to live!”
Rebecca, who started lining up at the red carpet at 9 a.m., says she’s been a Styles fan for four years, and his stage presence is nothing short of mesmerizing.
“On the stage he’s himself,” she gushes. “It’s fantastic.”
The teenager came with her pal in the hopes of catching a glimpse—and a selfie, of course—with the global icon, who Rolling Stone recently branded “The New King of Pop.” They brought sandwiches and water in preparation for the 10-hour wait.
As for the sign, Rebecca tells me that her mother passed away in May following a battle with cancer—and it was Styles who helped her cope with the trauma of it all.
“He’s my life,” she says. “He saved me in the darkest times.”
