Charlize Theron and Sean Penn Pose Together at Cannes Photocall -- and It Looks Unbearably Awkward

That moment when you run into your ex at work...

It might be an uncomfortable few days for Charlize Theron and Sean Penn while they're in Cannes, France.

The A-list stars -- who broke off their engagement last summer -- came face-to-face on Friday at the photocall for their movie, The Last Face, which is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.


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Theron stepped out looking gorgeous as usual in a cream-colored lace dress and strappy black heels, while Penn was more casual in a black T-shirt, khakis, dark sunglasses and a green jacket. The exes did pose together with cast mates Javier Bardem and Adele Exarchopoulos, but were careful to keep their distance, having at least two people between them at all times.

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Getty Images

At last year's Cannes Film Festival, Penn and Theron were still a couple and posed on the red carpet at the premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road. Reports surfaced a month later that they had split.

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Despite the inevitable awkwardness at the photocall, Penn and Theron smiled for the cameras, and joined their co-stars at the press conference that followed. Penn even addressed the mixed reviews about the movie he directed. In The Last Face, Theron plays the director of an international aid agency in Africa who meets a relief aid doctor (Bardem) amidst a political/social revolution. Together, they face tough choices surrounding humanitarianism and life through civil unrest.


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"I finished the film so it’s not a discussion that I can be of any value to,” the 55-year-old star said (via The Hollywood Reporter). "I stand behind the film as it is, and certainly everyone is entitled to their response."

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Earlier this year, the 40-year-old actress addressed her breakup from Penn for the first time. "There is a need to sensationalize things," she told WSJ. "When you leave a relationship there has to be some f**king crazy story or some crazy drama. And the f**king ghosting thing, like literally, I still don't even know what it is. It's just its own beast."


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She added, "We were in a relationship and then it didn't work anymore. And we both decided to separate. That's it."

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