Over the Labor Day weekend, social media was captivated by a short but powerful film. Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac were seen sharing a passionate moment on the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival. The fact that the footage was shot in slo-mo added to the heat. It caused a stir on Twitter, and it appears that at least one of the two actors involved was caught off guard by the reaction.
Late Sunday night (probably from Venice), Chastain weighed in with a photo that bore an uncanny resemblance to the events in Italy. It’s a still from the 1960s television adaptation of The Addams Family, with John Astin’s Gomez burying his lips in Carolyn Jones’ Morticia’s extended arm.
Was that what Isaac was channeling when he grabbed his Scenes from a Marriage costar’s one arm and laid upon it a gentle kiss? Who knows! The erstwhile Llewyn Davis did, of course, voice Gomez in the animated 2019 version of The Addams Family, so it’s not unlikely.
Just a heads up: Both actors are married, but to different individuals. They have a long history together. They met at Julliard, co-starred (as marrieds) in the 2014 drama A Most Violent Year, and had the distinction of playing X-Men villains in separate films. Their most recent collaboration is HBO’s remake of Ingmar Bergman’s classic miniseries Scenes from a Marriage, which follows the slow, contentious disintegration of a couple who realizes they can’t be together, despite the fact that they’re effectively bound together for life.
Marriage begins its run on HBO on September 12. In the meantime, you can rewatch their red carpet moment ad nauseum.
