Sisters Rooney and Kate Mara walked the red carpet together at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, September 3, celebrating the world premiere of Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” which marks the first time the real-life siblings have appeared together on screen.
In the film, the Maras play fictional twin sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke, who dress alike, think alike, and speak their lines in perfect unison as they embark on a literal and spiritual journey to find their place in the world. The story also centers on the sisters’ shared romantic attraction to a man played by co-star Orlando Bloom, who eventually leaves them both for another woman and ultimately obtains a restraining order to protect himself from their anger.
Speaking at a press conference on the Lido alongside Herzog, Bloom and co-star Domhnall Gleeson, Rooney Mara said their shared history as real sisters made the demanding synchronized performances come naturally, describing an unspoken connection built over a lifetime together that required little extra effort to create on screen. Kate Mara added that performing in unison felt almost musical, while Bloom described the experience of watching the sisters work as uncanny, saying they seemed to breathe, dream, love and think together, and that the film felt like a poem built around their central performances.
Herzog said the concept was loosely inspired by real-life twins, Greta and Freda Chaplin, who became a tabloid fascination in 1980s Britain for speaking in unison and dressing identically amid a stalking case, though the filmmaker emphasized that the story itself is entirely fictional. He said the idea of casting real sisters rather than twins came together quickly once suggested, and he wrote the script in just five days. The film’s title reportedly references a verbal slip the Chaplin twins once made in court, according to the Guardian.
“Bucking Fastard” is competing for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, after an unusual path to Venice; the film had initially been invited to Cannes, but Herzog turned down the opportunity when it wasn’t offered a competition slot. Venice has a long history with the director, who returned to the festival just one year after receiving its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The film is still awaiting a wider release plan for U.S. audiences.