Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen might have made the films that inspire FX’s Fargo, but that doesn’t mean that they actually like television. During the Cannes Film Festival jury press conference today, the brothers - who are co-presidents of the jury - admitted that they just don’t care for it.
Ethan was asked about negative comments he made about television. “It’s not that I don’t like TV. It’s alien to me,” Ethan said, reports The Associated Press. “I haven’t watched a television show in decades.”
Joel added that he also doesn’t watch TV, even though his wife, Frances McDormand, just starred in HBO’s Olive Kitteridge. “You’re going to get me in trouble,” he said.
The jury also includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna Miller, Sophie Marceau, Guillermo Del Toro, Xavier Dolan, Rossy de Palma and Rokia Traore. Gyllenhaal joked that the group has been split into the “Joel group” and the “Ethan group.”
“We’ve all been split up into either the Ethan group or the Joel group,” Gyllenhaal said, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re not allowed to talk about who’s in what group, but after a while you might start to understand. And that was purely based on personality – we had no choice.”
As for why Gyllenhaal wanted to join the jury, he had the perfect reason, notes HitFix. “I was thrilled about seeing any films before anyone in the else in the world could see them. And free too,” he said.
Miller had to remind everyone that it was her first time at the festival. Even though she appeared in Foxcatcher, which won awards last year, she didn’t make it. “I know that's a boring response, but I just can't wait and see these amazing works,” she said.
The festival started today with the French film La Tete haute.
image of Jake Gyllenhaal & Sienna Miller courtesy of INFphoto.com