One day, three events and countless meme-worthy moments. Charlize Theron and ex-boyfriend Sean Penn had the most uncomfortable, awkward interactions during the Cannes Film Festival while they were promoting their film The Last Face on Friday, May 20.
Penn, 55, directed the movie and Theron, 40, starred, so they were forced to spend an entire day together between a photo call, press conference and a red carpet premiere. The former couple avoided each other at all costs and basically pretended not to see each other until they couldn’t possibly evade each other any longer (Because isn’t this what we all do when we see an ex?).
While posing together at the photo call at the start of the day, the Oscar-winning actress kept away from the Mystic River star during group photos, using costars Javier Bardem and Adèle Exarchopoulos as buffers. While Theron laughed and smiled with Exarchopoulos, she didn’t seem to come in contact with Penn.
Once they were seated for The Last Face press conference, the now-single mom of two appeared to give the filmmaker some major side eye when she glanced over at her former love. The two stars kept their distance and were strategically placed two people apart at the table for minimal interaction.
Finally at the red carpet for a screening, they greeted each other with the most unemotional hug. Theron firmly grabbed his face to kiss him on the cheek and looked super frosty. Penn also appeared to be very unhappy and glum. After the cringeworthy encounter, he tried to grab her arm as she walked away.
During the entire day together, they only acknowledged each other’s presence a handful of times. This is the most public reunion for the pair since they called it quits in July 2015. The couple dated for 18 months and happily attended Cannes together last year. “When you’re with somebody and it comes to kids, you can’t bull–t. And so I was always very honest with Sean that I wanted to have more kids. And he was very supportive,” the Mad Max: Fury Road actress told the Wall Street Journal in April. “We were in a relationship and then it didn’t work anymore. And we both decided to separate. That’s it.”
