This article was updated at 2:15 p.m. Sept. 6, 2022, to include comments from Chris Pine’s representative.
Everyone will remember exactly where they were on the evening of Sept. 5, 2022, when they first gasped in awe at the Don’t Worry Darling premiere video. Yes, you know what video I’m talking about: the one where Harry Styles spits on Chris Pine.
Well, the video where Harry Styles maybe spits on Chris Pine. There’s no confirmation of whether or not it happened, and there probably won’t be until 2032, when some journalist has to round up the cast for a 10 year oral history of the film. But there are a lot of pieces to put together from yesterday’s tumultuous Don’t Worry Darling Festival (sorry, Venice, you’re over), so let’s dive in.
No matter how many times we slow it down, all the different angles we can snatch from Venice Film Festivalgoers, or all the zooming in we do to try to spot saliva, we can’t confirm the spit through the (many) videos. Styles pinches his face together and really looks like he hocks a loogie at Pine, who then pauses clapping in shock.
But since there’s no way to confirm through video, we turn to gossip. There are a few theories as to why Harry Styles would spit on Chris Pine. Number one? They got into a fight after a long day of goofy press conferences.
Pine, a “PROFESSIONAL” actor, began his day with a battle. That battle, of course, is the one to keep a straight face through hours and hours of press conferences with Styles, a man clearly untrained for the media. For example: At a 2017 press conference for Dunkirk, his acting debut, Styles said the best note from Christopher Nolan was “you don’t have to act too much.”
“I think it’s just not overthinking it, and just don’t think about acting too much, I think is the best thing,” Styles said. “Say what you need to say, don’t overthink it.”
Perhaps the Don’t Worry Darling press team should’ve reviewed this footage and brought Styles up to speed before throwing him to the wolves at the Venice Film Festival. Clearly, Styles has not improved in the last five years, because he gave a flurry of bizarre answers while unpacking his new role.
“There wasn’t too much acting,” Styles said of Don’t Worry Darling, almost a word-for-word recreation of his Dunkirk statement. “I think the fun part is you never know what you’re doing. Music, I’ve done for longer, but what I like about acting is I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Can someone get this man acting lessons? Or, at the very least, prep him for press conferences?
Later, Styles waxed poetic about the movies: “You know, my favorite thing about [Don’t Worry Darling] is, like, it feels like a movie,” he said. “It feels like a real, like, you know, ‘go to the theater’ film movie.”
Now, put yourself in Chris Pine’s shoes. After enduring a whole production with a man who admittedly doesn’t act in any of the films he stars in, you now have to sit through hours of press conferences with him. In fact, you can see the wear and tear this whole mess has on Pine, as he appears to be astral projecting in one press conference and ready to peel Styles’ beautiful face off in the next.
Which brings me to our first theory: Pine, exhausted by his co-star’s childish behavior, approached Styles and told him off. “Don’t say you can’t act, pal,” I imagine Pine saying with a sigh. “That’s not going to win anyone over.” And maybe this advice didn’t sit too well with Styles, who has every excuse to have a diva personality after committing to 15 days of sold out performances at Madison Square Garden.
Another potential theory is that two factions have arisen out of the Don’t Worry Darling cast. While Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles, who are “very happy” in a relationship, reside in one camp, Florence Pugh has gone her own way, ditching the press conference and ignoring her director during the film’s standing ovation.
It appears that Chris Pine is team Pugh. Aren’t we all? On the red carpet, Pine snapped an adorable disposable film camera pic of the lead actress showing off her glamorous ‘fit. This was probably the most excited we got to see Pine all day!
This might’ve pissed off Styles, though, who was clearly team Wilde. Standing up for his woman—who was seated on the other side of Pine—Styles snuck in one little dig at Pine, in the form of a spit.
There’s plenty of speculation to be made. Maybe it was an accident, but Pine still noticed the spit and had a brilliant reaction. Perhaps Pine dared Styles to spit on him. Or maybe the PR team behind Don’t Worry Darling is actually brilliant and staged this whole affair to gain traction on social media.
Speaking of PR: Later on Monday morning, Chris Pine’s rep shut down the “ridiculous” claim about Harry Styles spitting on his co-star. "Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine," they said in a statement. "There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist.” So, was he just missing his sunglasses and looked down to find them? Who’s to say.
Any way you spin it, Chris Pine needs to be freed from this mess. Before Don’t Worry Darling had its grand premiere, the star went viral yet again for flipping on a pair of shades as the lights went down. In that same video, though, he can be seen ignoring Styles, who pokes and prods him for attention before the film begins. Leave him alone! Let him enjoy the film, or a nice nap. Lord knows he needs one.
