A handful of stars, including Adam Driver and Jessica Chastain, will still promote films at Venice

If you were really bummed about not seeing celebrities waving from Venetian water taxis arriving for the Venice Film Festival this year, well, you’re in luck. As it turns out, a few glamorous stars will be making the trek to Italy after all, despite the SAG-AFTRA strike that largely prevents actors from promoting their work. Previously, it was reported that Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla was granted an interim agreement to send its cast to the festival; now, several other casts have confirmed their attendance.

Per Variety, stars confirmed for the Venice red carpet include Adam Driver (for Michael Mann’s Ferrari), Caleb Landry Jones (for Luc Besson’s Dogman), Mads Mikkelsen (for Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land) and Jessica Chastain (for Michel Franco’s Memory). That’s in addition to Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, and Priscilla Presley for Priscilla.

Interim agreements have been somewhat controversial

Interim agreements have been a somewhat controversial subject surrounding the strike. These agreements have been granted to independent productions (meaning those that fall outside the scope of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes the major studios and streamers), allowing those projects to keep filming. The logic goes that any independent production that can fulfill SAG-AFTRA’s proposals punctures the AMPTP’s assertion that it can’t meet those demands. However, some striking members have questioned this strategy given that it undermines the optics of a full work stoppage. Viola Davis, for instance, declined to move forward with one of her projects despite the fact that it was granted an interim agreement.

All that said, SAG-AFTRA leadership encouraged members whose projects were operating under interim agreements to support and promote those projects at the upcoming Venice, Telluride, and Toronto film festivals. In a statement released last week, the guild said “Supporting productions covered by a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement shows strong solidarity with the union” and gave its blessing not only to audition for projects with interim agreements but also to “celebrate and fully promote their projects.”

“The Interim Agreement is a vital part of our strategic approach and was created for several reasons, all of which are aimed at protecting the interests of our members,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland explained in the statement. “The Agreement demonstrates to the AMPTP and the struck companies that independent producers at all budget levels are eager, keen, and able to work with our members under these terms.”

Interestingly, Italian news agency ANSA (via Variety) has reported that Kiefer Sutherland will also attend the Venice Film Festival for The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, the last film of director William Friedkin. Unlike the films listed above, Friedkin’s movie isn’t an indie with an Interim Agreement—it’s produced by Showtime and Paramount Global, an AMPTP member. We’ll see later this week if Sutherland does indeed hit the red carpet, and if he has some sort of special dispensation to do so.