Beauty is pain, so they say, and actress Elle Fanning now has the experience to confirm that the old saying sometimes proves true. The 21-year-old recently had a medical scare during the Cannes Film Festival due to the gown she was wearing at one of the week’s events, which was so tight it made her pass out, Variety reported.
The incident happened during the Chopard Trophee dinner on Monday, May 20. Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s director, had just introduced actor Francois Civil on stage when Fanning — who is a member of this year’s Cannes jury — briefly fainted and fell out of her chair.
Fortunately, the Beguiled star was seated next to big sister Dakota Fanning, who quickly leaped to her feet to help before their team of security guards whisked them away. Actor Colin Firth also offered his assistance to the actress as she regained consciousness and stability.
Other attendees that weren’t seated as close to Elle were unaware she had fainted until after the fact.
“Most people in the room didn’t even notice until after there was a brief pause, during which word quickly spread through the venue about what happened,” an eyewitness explained to E! News , also noting that the actress “quickly recovered before leaving.”
Elle Fanning gave her sister and some of her fellow celebrities quite a scare. https://t.co/wkmGTlhStt
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) May 21, 2019
The Maleficent star later took to social media to assure her concerned fans that she was doing just fine, and revealed that it was her “1950’s Prada prom dress” that was partially at fault for her fainting spell.
A snap shared to her Instagram account showed the actress throwing up a thumbs up while sporting a pair of comfy pajamas, adding “#dresstootight #timeofthemonth” in the caption.
“Where’s your smelling salts when you need em??” actress January Jones commented on the post, to which Elle responded with an enthusiastic “Amen!”
Other fans quickly offered their sympathies to the star, with many sharing stories of the same thing happening to them.
“I feel you, girl. Same thing happened to me, when I was maid of honor at a wedding,” one follower wrote. “Glad you’re feeling better!”
As noted by Elle , Fanning has been dazzling the Cannes crowd with a number of stunning ensembles, which, luckily, have not caused any fainting spells such as the one last night. On Friday, May 17 — day four of the festival — the actress exuded some serious Disney princess vibes in a gorgeous pink Vivienne Westwood Couture gown. She turned heads again in a stunning Dior silk bustier dress during the Kering Women in Motion Awards on Sunday, May 19.