‘How Is She Wearing Fur?’: Unprecedented Venice Heat Wave Leaves A-List Stars and Their Handlers Dripping in Sweat

variety.com:

Nicole Kidman as she entered the Sala Grande, the central Venice Film Festival cinema, for the world premiere of her erotic thriller “Babygirl,” fanning her face and airing her neck under the very welcome (but not quite powerful enough) air conditioning. “It’s so much cooler in here!” she then told a fan as she posed for a selfie.

As it happens, Kidman was speaking on behalf of practically every festival attendee. If the buzzword of Venice last year was strikes, for 2024 it’s — unquestionably — sweat.

Buckets of the stuff. So much so that even A-listers like Kidman, whose lofty existences should see them unconcerned by such a lowly matter as perspiration, have been struggling to cope. “It’s the topic everyone is talking about in Venice,” says one stylist. “Everyone is sweating.” An unprecedented and prolonged heatwave across Italy over the last week (fuelled by a lingering African anticyclone, FYI) has seen thermometers soar into the upper 80 degrees Fahrenheit, turning much of the festival into a muggy, dripping, sodden mess within seconds of any outdoor exposure.

Even under the shade there’s been no escape. But while it may have been a somewhat unpleasant experience for the average guest (especially those lugging heavy bags around or getting the comically overcrowded vaporettos back and forth from the Lido to the main city of Venice), spare a thought for the poor celebrities.