Why Karl Lagerfeld Recently Rode the Subway

A version of this story first appeared in the Oct. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Julie Delpy writes, directs and stars in Lolo, which screened at Venice and Toronto, but she could add “Karl Lagerfeld wrangler” to her résumé. Delpy snagged the Chanel guru for her comedy, about a 40-year-old fashion workaholic, and got him to do something he hadn’t done in a long time — ride the subway.

“I’ve known him for many years, and we’ve always had an admiration for each other,” Delpy tells THR. “When I asked him to be in the film, I told him it was essential because he was such an icon of the fashion world. He had not been in the subway for years. He doesn’t like being in the subway. He was a little scared at first, and then he really enjoyed it. When we finished he was like, ‘Oh, already?’ He was ready to spend the whole day there.”

Delpy adds that the locals would’ve liked had he stayed. “It was shot in almost the suburbs, in a kind of borderline rough area. They couldn’t believe it when they saw him walking through the streets. They thought he was a fake. No one of his stature has ever been in that neighborhood, I can guarantee you that,” she says.

Lagerfeld’s other screen credits include Zoolander and The Valet.

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