Cannes 2026 – Interview With Actress Molly Anderson

I am now a Cannes ‘veteran.’ I’ve reported on the festival for Movie Marker for many years now but I’d attended it for many years before this too. 

Now, as I sit in rainy London writing up the reviews of the films I saw and the interviews conducted, I think back to my very first Cannes festival which was an exhilarating, uber glamorous experience.

But what is it like now, for a newcomer?

I met American actress Molly Anderson by chance and we quickly established a lovely rapport. Molly is an in-demand star in the increasingly popular world of verticals. This was her first Cannes festival. I was curious to know how she found it, what it’s like for networking and about her career in a booming part of the film world.

Rehna: What’s your 1st impression of Cannes and the festival?

Molly: How gorgeous the place is! How healthy the palm trees are. We have them in LA, of course and funnily, they were a gift from France but in LA they are at end of their life cycle. Here they look so fresh.

As for the festival, there’s a tangible sense of excitement in the air. Everyone I know in the industry, back home, wanted to be here. For those of us who made it, there’s a real anticipation of joy and sense of an adventure to be had. 

What made you want to come to this particular festival? 

The vibe of it. I wanted to see it. You can wait until you get the opportunity from someone else but who knows when that will be. I’m currently in a kick of creating opportunities for myself. I don’t always want to be reliant on others. Everyone said it was the best festival and I wanted to experience it. So here I am. My best experiences have been from just showing up. 

Is the Cannes festival the place to make great contacts?

As I make my way through the industry, the less desire I have to be famous at the level of the big stars I’ve seen here. That level of fame requires many sacrifices.

So, I’m trying to figure out how to get access to good work without chasing that kind of enormous fame. If it does happen for me I know I won’t be able to do many things that I take for granted now. You can’t fully participate in your community as a very famous person. 

The pursuit of making contacts is actually exhausting. The Cannes festival is a giant summer camp for adults on the riviera! On the one hand I’m sharing a bunk bed with a friend, another actress, but then I’m surrounded at the festival by all this glamour and opportunity. 

Overall, it’s a very inviting festival. A very open environment. Yes, it’s about getting that exclusive access in the first place  but once you get it, people are very willing to talk. 

Is getting that access easier for an attractive young woman?

I’m well aware that being a woman I become a lawn ornament. I understand that you are a walking billboard. That you have to look a certain way. Some events, for example, demand heels. The other night, 10 of us went to an event, one girl didn’t have heels so we were all turned away!

What are your tips on making those important contacts?

I’d say remember that they are contacts for work. Follow through on invites. Take every meeting. Be direct. Don’t wait around for someone to connect you. 

The other night, I was at a party and I went up to someone and said I auditioned for your movie. It was an immediate conversation starter. But you then have to follow up the meeting. You have to solidify the connection, otherwise there’s no point and it all gets lost in the ether. 

I make the effort to create and maintain business relationships. 

How often does an encounter at an event or a meeting evolve into the potential to work together?

It might take 10 meetings to get the tangible offer but you lay the foundation at the first one. Being here (at Cannes) inherently comes with a level of openness to connect. I’m not cornering people at a private dinner. I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t just approach a celebrity for the sake of it. If I saw a celebrity at a party, however, yes I’d see if they were open to speaking to me. You have to read the energy. And connect. 

If I could wave a magic Cannes wand and create a great career for you, whose career trajectory would you like to emulate?

Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson. They all do the big franchises, the iconic films but also go and do the funky shit. Their range of roles is so expansive. Pattinson really inspires me. He’s drawn to collaborations he’s interested in. He still does Batman but he’ll also do The Lighthouse and that’s really cool.

You’re very established in ‘verticals’ (vertical micro-dramas-bite-sized episodic soap operas or melodramas specifically shot in a 9.16 aspect ratio so they can be viewed full-screen on smartphones). How did you get into that? And can you tell us something about verticals because not everyone is familiar with what they are and how they work?

I submitted a tape and got the role. It was my first one and it just blew up. It got 10s of millions of views. It was a romance which is the most popular genre. And that really started my career in the field. A lot of it is fantasy content, feel good stuff. It’s a growing global market. We’re all so reliant on phones and verticals offer drama in a convenient package. It’s easy to watch. Modern attitudes to romance are shifting and verticals often reflect that. For example many viewers are less interested in traditional marriage stories now unless it’s a soul mate, dream come true scenario. So the stories reflect the prevailing and changing feelings about love and relationships of the viewers. Each film hits different markets.

What is the shooting schedule like?

On average we shoot over 5-10 days. It’s very intense as we shoot 10-20 pages of the script per day. We work long days, 12 hours on average .

How are the films promoted?

On social media, billboards, through Tik tok challenges. The emphasis is on very quick, short content. We have to do the promotion between shooting the actual films. Unlike traditional film promotion we don’t get a media day where we do press junkets or photoshoots.