“My sister was sitting at another table, and she saw my chair just completely fall back,” the actress said.

Elle Fanning says Colin Firth rushed to help after she fainted because her dress was too tight: ‘Very dramatic’

"My sister was sitting at another table, and she saw my chair just completely fall back," the actress said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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January 6, 2026 4:21 p.m. ET

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Elle Fanning in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 4, 2026; Colin Firth in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 1, 2022. Credit:

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

- Elle Fanning fainted at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival because her "dress was too tight."

- The *Sentimental Value* star said that her sister, Dakota Fanning, witnessed the entire incident from across the room.

- Fanning also said that Colin Firth "rushed" to her side: "It was the talk of the festival."

Elle Fanning is reflecting on an unusual wardrobe malfunction.

The *Sentimental Value* actress remembered fainting at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival during a new interview with *W*, noting that her outfit was to blame for her loss of consciousness.

"My dress was too tight," she said, noting that her sister Dakota Fanning, who was at the festival promoting *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*, witnessed the entire incident play out from across the room. "My sister was sitting at another table, and she saw my chair just completely fall back. It’s kind of hilarious — very dramatic."

Fanning received a helping hand from a nearby Oscar winner. "Colin Firth was there, and he rushed to my side," she said. "It was the talk of the festival."

Colin Firth in London on Dec. 10, 2024.

Dave Benett/Getty

The *20th Century Women* star noted that the Cannes incident was not the first time she had passed out. "I’m known to faint," she said. "In school, I would faint a lot. I grew, like, seven inches in one year, and I guess my body was growing so much that I got altitude sickness."

Fanning previously acknowledged her Cannes fainting spell on social media. "Oops, had a fainting spell tonight in my 1950’s Prada prom dress but it’s all good!!" she shared on Instagram the night of the incident, alongside the hashtags "#dresstootight" and "#timeofthemonth."

Despite the side effects of the dress, Fanning maintained that she has no fashion regrets. "I don’t live with regrets," she told *W*. "That’s just not my style, but I did try bangs once. Faux bangs that you clip in. Being a blonde, it’s hard to match the color of my hair, and it just looked like a big toupee was on the top of my head. I won't be doing that again."

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The *We Bought a Zoo* actress also said that she experienced good luck at Cannes that balanced out the bad. "There was one party in Cannes that was basically my prom night," she said. "I was dancing barefoot, and there was broken glass everywhere. My manager loves to say she couldn’t believe her eyes, because I was maneuvering around the glass barefoot on the dance floor. I didn’t get one cut."

Elle Fanning in Palm Springs, Calif., on Jan. 3, 2026.

Lisa O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty

But Fanning has still experienced her fair share of awkward moments while donning a glitzy gown. "I made a fool of myself," she said of one particular encounter. "I was at the Met Ball a couple of years ago. I saw Cardi B, and I was just like, Wow. I got up, but I had huge shoes on, so I toppled over and fell. Cardi B saw this giant woman in her periphery just go down. She looked over and said, 'Are you okay?'"

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Fanning can currently be seen in *Sentimental Value* and *Predator: Badlands*. Both films are now playing in theaters.

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