CANNES, FRANCE: If you’ve ever travelled to the Côte d’Azur during the Cannes Film Festival, you’ll know it’s excessively glamorous; red carpets hemmed in by black suited photographers, fancy parties with high-profile celebrities dripping in jewels usually reserved for Royals, expensive Champagne, black limousines, the list goes on.

It’s been this way for 75 years. It’s ironic then that the demurest of movie stars, Alicia Vikander, would not only debut her new series Irma Vep at the mecca of celebrity, but that Vikander, who detaches herself from celebrity culture almost entirely, would produce and star in the series as the antithesis of herself.

“I love talking about films and my work, so this is such an exciting time being in Cannes with it. But yes, no, I’m quite shy,” Vikander said during an interview in Cannes.

Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander attend the screening of “Irma Vep” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 22: Alicia Vikander attends the screening of “Holy Spider” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)

Twenty-six years ago, director Olivier Assayas debuted his film Irma Vep at the Cannes Film Festival. This year, the French filmmaker is back directing a remake of the same film, only this time it’s a HBO series and stars Vikander, who also is an executive producer on the show.

The original starred Maggie Cheung who played herself as an actress who starred in a silent film called Les Vampires. In the remake, Swedish-born Vikander – with quite an unplaceable accent – plays Mira, an American movie star who, after a big breakup with a boyfriend and then a girlfriend, decides to run off to Paris to play outlaw Irma Vep in Les Vampires. Are you still with me?

Alicia Vikander
Maggie Cheung in 1996 film “Irma Vep”.
Alicia Vikander
Alicia Vikander 2022 remake series “Irma Vep”.

There’s a scene where Mira sits down in a palatial hotel with the director of Les Vampires and is trying to work out his vision for the character.

“[Irma Vep] was sexy in a way that good girls are not,” he says.

Mira gives a knowing nod because she’s not a good girl, and she clearly has an edge. It’s soon revealed she was in a long-term relationship with a guy called Eamonn (played by the handsome Tom Sturridge) before leaving him for her assistant Laurie (played by the very sexy Adria Arjona). (Listen carefully to Eamonn’s advice to Mira when she admits she’s lonely. Something tells me things aren’t over yet between them.)

With footage from the OG series intercepting the new one, it’s a mish-mash of Assayas marrying the old with the new – the new of course incorporating woke film set references like the introduction of an intimacy coordinator, or a Harvey-Weinstein-is-bad acknowledgement. Also you could be forgiven for likening this series to Emily In Paris. Just three episodes of eight were shown in Cannes on Monday, but we can see where this is headed. But like I’ve said with EIP creator Darren Star, take it for what it is: there’s no real depth to any part of it, but that’s OK. Please enjoy a relaxed Vikander in a svelte catsuit and an endearing face. It’s light, mid-week viewing at its most enjoyable.

The 33-year-old actress – who arrived at her own premiere in Cannes in a metallic Louis Vuitton gown with her husband Michael Fassbender – told Variety she doesn’t have an assistant, a vast difference from Mira’s compete reliability on hers (played by Devon Ross).

“I, myself, have never had an assistant who lived with me 24/7 or cook [or make] coffee for me, but I’ve always been quite intrigued by what that is because I’ve seen some people in my industry, or colleagues, who have that, and it’s just… that wouldn’t work for me, personally,” she said.

Alicia Vikander
(From L) French actor Vincent Macaigne, Swedish actress Alicia Vikander and French director Olivier Assayas arrive for the screening of the film “Irma Vep” at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2022. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP) (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
Alicia Vikander
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 22: (L-R) The cast of Irma Vep, Jeanne Balibar, Olivier Assayas, Nora Hamzawi, Fala Chen, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Macaigne, Adria Arjona and Tom Sturridge of “Irma Vep” walks the red carpet for the screening of “Holy Spider” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Vikander and Fassbender, 45, met on a dance floor at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. Both were there promoting films The Fifth Estate and 12 Years A Slave, respectively. A year later, they filmed The Light Between Oceans in Tasmania, Australia and in New Zealand, and began dating. Vikander won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Danish Girl in 2016.

Alicia Vikander
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 22: Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander of “Irma Vep” walks the red carpet for the screening of “Holy Spider” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Yes, Vikander may be the antithesis of the type of celebrity who flies into Cannes, but we guess that’s what playing make believe as a career is all about. And in that Louis Vuitton with Fassbender on her arm, she sure could have fooled us.

For Australian audiences, Irma Vep will premiere on June 7 on Binge.