Cannes Film Festival: Woody Allen admits he ‘took a chance’ on Kristen Stewart for Café Society as she opens festival with Blake Lively

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Jennifer Ruby12 May 2016
The Weekender

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Woody Allen has admitted he 'took a chance' on Kristen Stewart as they opened this year's Cannes Film Festival alongside Blake Lively.

The blonde A-listers were the first stars to make a public appearance at this year’s typically star-studded festival, promoting Allen’s new film Café Society on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking about casting Stewart, Allen said: “I took a chance. I had her read a paragraph and she read it so well, that all our apprehensions — which are not huge to begin with — vanished instantly.

“None of us knew her except in the heaviest of things. We did want to see if she had a lighter side.

"We assumed she did. She’s a young girl, and she’s certainly not going to be a grim.”

While Lively, 28, looked polished and elegant in a red Juan Carlos Obando jumpsuit, Stewart looked more laid back in a white Chanel pencil skirt and cropped T-shirt.

In true Stewart style, the actress later ditched her enormous stilettos and wandered around the event barefoot.

The actresses were joined by co-stars Jesse Eisenberg and Corey Stoll, who will also walk the red carpet at the gala screening.

The veteran director’s new film tells the story of a man who arrives in Hollywood in the 1930s, hoping to work in the movie business.

The Annie Hall director hadn’t even seen Stewart in Twilight and was unaware of her huge celebrity.

Joking around: Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart on the red carpet
2016 Getty Images

He said: “No, that’s something I have no idea of. I don’t have a computer. I’m not on the Internet. I don’t know anything about any of that.

"I’ve never seen her, except as in this Greg Mottola movie [“Adventureland”]."

The Cannes Film Festival will run from May 11-22.

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