Kendall Jenner has made her acting debut in a short film styled after 1960s Italian cinema, becoming the latest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family to try her hand at performing. The 30-year-old model appears in and narrates the film, titled La Passeggiata, which is the cover story of the September issue of the film magazine A Rabbit's Foot.
The film was written and directed by Fatima Khan, A Rabbit's Foot's creative director, and takes its name from the Italian tradition of la passeggiata, an early evening walk. Khan transposes the ritual to Los Angeles, where Jenner lives.
An art house take on being watched
La Passeggiata borrows the visual language of 1960s Italian cinema and works as an art house meditation on what Khan calls "looking and being looked at." In it, Jenner plays an actress moving through a funeral, a walk down a city street and a fashion atelier.
"Kendall has spent almost two decades as one of the most photographed women in the world, so I wanted to play with that reality rather than try to hide it," Khan said.
The film closes with Jenner saying, "Because movement leaves room for mystery." Khan said the line "really became the thesis of the whole piece, this idea of a gap between being seen and actually being understood."
Jenner on fame and being understood
In an interview accompanying the film, Jenner reflected on the difference between fame and genuine recognition. "Celebrity today feels constant. There's very little space between what's public and what's personal. That is the difference between being looked at and really being understood," she said.
"Obviously being looked at is when someone sees you. Being understood is when someone sees into you, who you are. Being recognised doesn't necessarily mean people actually know who you are, the person. That's a big misconception," she added.
She also spoke about her lifelong pull toward film. "As an outsider I've always been captivated by cinema. Especially the extraordinary amount of collaboration it takes to create stories that remain with you for a long time. From being a little girl and rushing home to watch movies to how, as someone who hasn't seen them all but is inspired to try," she said, naming Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia as films that have stayed with her.
Jenner said her internal monologue sometimes echoes lines from the movies, citing the closing line of Moulin Rouge! spoken by Ewan McGregor's character Christian, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return," itself drawn from the 1948 song Nature Boy. Another line she returns to, she said, is "I'm not lonely. I'm alone."
A relationship with Jacob Elordi
The acting turn comes as Jenner is dating the Australian actor Jacob Elordi. The couple have been together since this spring and were first seen together in April. Jenner is currently in Venice for the Venice Film Festival.
Elordi, who starred in Priscilla and Frankenstein, is Oscar-nominated and has been named as a contender to play the next James Bond.
A family drawn to the screen
Jenner's move into acting follows a wider pattern within her family, whose fame began through a run of reality television series. Her sister Kylie Jenner, the make-up entrepreneur, is dating the actor Timothee Chalamet and has appeared as a heightened version of herself in The Moment, a mockumentary from the musician Charli XCX. Older sister Kim Kardashian has appeared in a number of films and in a television show, panned by critics, in which she played a lawyer.
On privacy and self-image
Jenner said fame has taught her to guard her privacy closely. "Fame has really taught me to protect and value my privacy. Sometimes I'll take a walk through nature to feel anonymous again. When it comes to the 'gaze' the one I'm really happiest with is my own, I just want to be happy with myself," she said.
Asked what people misunderstand about her, she said: "What do people misunderstand about me? How much time do we have? Short answer: my sensitivity. Life is actually really long, it pays to be kind."
"I tend to be pretty hard on myself. The best piece of advice I received was to allow myself grace through everything that comes in life," she said, adding: "We are all just doing our best, having a human experience. Everything is going to land where it's meant to. My loved ones remind me of this constantly."
