Jenny Slate & Chris Evans reunite at the ‘Gifted’ premiere: awkward or fine?

'Gifted' - Hollywood Premiere

When Chris Evans and Jenny Slate broke up a few months ago, many of us believed that the split would make for an awkward promotional tour for Gifted, the film where Chris and Jenny met and possibly fell in love. She was married at the time, although she insists now that she was separated from her husband when she met Chris. In any case, they were done months ago. Jenny was the first to say something publicly about the breakup, and by that I mean that she gave one of the most confessional tell-all interviews I’ve ever read. Chris then followed up by saying very nice things about her publicly, because what else can he do after she went on and on and on about him to NY Magazine?

Anyway, the point is that the narrative around the red carpet for the LA premiere of Gifted was supposed to be “Friendly Exes: Jenny Slate and Chris Evans Don’t Hate Each Other.” But is Jenny’s face giving away the secret? Jenny and Chris posed together on the carpet a few times, including other members of the cast, and I swear… Jenny’s face is giving me “I am not happy” vibes. Is she not-happy because she’s about to cry? Or is she not-happy because she doesn’t want Chris to put his arm around her? Hm…

All I know is that I actually feel for her a little bit. Her discomfort is palpable. Poor thing. Jenny had an advantage: she knew she was going to see her ex at a specific time and she could prepare herself for it, emotionally and sartorially. I can’t say this dress is what I would have chosen. I would have gone with all-black, cleavage, dark eyes and Sex Bomb Vibes. Jenny went for 1970s-floral-curtains. Yikes.

'Gifted' - Hollywood Premiere

Film premiere of 'Gifted' - Arrivals

Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet, WENN.

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64 Responses to “Jenny Slate & Chris Evans reunite at the ‘Gifted’ premiere: awkward or fine?”

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  1. QQ says:

    The Awkwardness is WAFTING from this pics in such a way that i’m blinking back tears… it’s Oniony that way

    • Anners says:

      She needs a lesson in smizing. Actors are supposed to be good at faking emotions. I feel for her, but she should be able to control this.

      • Daisy says:

        Yeah. I feel for her, but good God woman, control your face, you’re an actress for God’s sake.

      • Emily says:

        YES! You are an actress. Try to act like you’re not horrified. Act as though you’re happy to see some old friends.

      • Beth says:

        Exactly what I was thinking. It would be impossible for me to fake being okay ,but I’m not an actor. Faking emotions is their job. This must be wicked tough if she can’t even act like she’s alright

      • susiecue says:

        I think actors usually wear their emotions on their sleeve IRL

    • perplexed says:

      He’s got her arm around her waist, so I can kind of see why she’d look a little reserved Maybe if she were on the other side of the acting group away from him she’d be more smiley…I guess. I don’t know. She doesn’t look too emotional, imo — if I didn’t know any of the gossip, I most likely wouldn’t assume she was uncomfortable being in his presence. Instead, I’d probably just assume she didn’t like her teeth or something.

      I think her dress is nice enough though. Maybe I don’t get the big whoop about super sexy outfits.

    • Lahdidahbaby says:

      I’m with QQ — the awkwardness and her sadness are palpable.

      As for what she wore, I’m betting she chose that bright print dress as a way of saying, “HEY, I’m fine, no prob here, I’m happy and SO over him!” But the minute he put his arm around her and rested his palm on her torso it all came flooding back and she was clearly not prepared emotionally. Just managing not to tear up probably took a huge effort, I’m guessing.

      But damn, I’m with Kaiser on the fashion choice! I’d have gone the sex-bomb route too — a seductive, formfitting black dress with just a bit of cleavage and a pair of f**k-me heels, hair slightly dishevelled, a delicate pair of diamond or ruby dangles, some smoky mysterious eye make-up, and my fabulous-bitch persona fully employed.

  2. Tiffany27 says:

    I feel for her. I am all too familiar with the “screams internally” face. And why does he look………rough?

    • Mia4s says:

      He looks rough because he’s a bro in his mid-30s who likes to party but we are not supposed to know that or mention it because Captain America would’ve never and that cocaine his brother was caught with was all his brother’s Ok?!?!?!!😉

  3. Pandy says:

    Sure it’s awkward but it’s not like they were Brange with a long history, kids, etc. So I’m shrugging I guess?

    • astrid says:

      +1

    • Beth says:

      Them not being together long, not much history, and no kids together doesn’t mean her heart can’t be shattered. Unfortunately I know how it can be long and painful to get over a relationship that lasted just a few months. A broken heart is torture.

  4. Abbess Tansy says:

    Dang, her face says it all. Not comfortable, nothing here for you but cool professionalism.

  5. Maria says:

    They were together for 8 months, according to her post divorce timeline, which I think is BS, but ok. She put all her eggs in 1 imaginary basket when it came to Chris, & thought this was the dream jock she always wished would pay attention to her.

    You can tell he’s not feeling her nor does he think much of her from the tone of those random things he said about her after her over the top interview.

    The good thing, for Chris especially, is that not many people really care about this sketchy, likely affair situation so it’ll just be sweeped under the rug. I’m sure she’ll mention this along the way though; she wants the Captain American validation.

  6. t.fanty says:

    I love the dress. I think she looks beautiful, albeit VERY uncomfortable.

  7. Mia4s says:

    Saw some footage and at one point they shook hands and it was sooooo awkward. 😬Good PR work on the interviews but they are soooo not OK with each other Oh well the movie won’t do much (reviews are “meh”) so it’s not like they have to worry about sequels or an Oscar campaign.

  8. Bex says:

    Idk, if she’d gone for ‘sex bomb’ she probably would’ve been accused of desperation as well as reinforcing the narrative that she was more into him than the other way around. ‘Vamp’ isn’t really her usual vibe. She looks pretty but so uncomfortable.

    • LaraK says:

      This.
      Any even remotely overtly sexy dress would have come off as desperate. While I’m not in love with the dress choice, it does suit her – cheery, a bit quirky, feminine but not glammy.
      Can’t hide her discomfort through.

    • Nalinda says:

      She’s gonna be accused of desperation anyway. She manages to just barely hold onto her chill at first but then especially after he actually touches her looks like a giddy school girl whose crush just acknowledged her existence, and they dated for 8 months. LOL And two different pictures of her hanging onto him while he’s moving away, the handshake and the later hug. She’s desperate, he’s hoping this night’ll be over soon.

  9. Daria says:

    That’s a prom dress from 1955.

  10. Evelyn says:

    Let’s discuss his sartorial choice.

    • Prairiegirl says:

      It’s not jeans/chinos with a frayed crew neck tee shirt and an open button-down linen worn like a sweater, so .. A+

    • Nalinda says:

      His suit is really nice, it’s a beautiful color with a little bit of interest with the pattern. It fits him very nicely.

  11. piki says:

    I actually like that dress. She looks beautiful.

  12. Brit says:

    There were other pics of them on the red carpet and at the after party where they looked less awkward, more in tune with each other!

  13. browniecakes says:

    No one can say they dated for the publicity, or it was fake. Jen and Chris would have stuck it out till after Gifted opened otherwise.

    • TheOtherSam says:

      icam. I also wonder if this had been a big studio-backed film rather than a small indie if they would have been ‘asked’ (iow, ordered) to stick together until at least after the premiere.

  14. Beth says:

    It’s usually akward for me to be with an ex when I’m not over him and my heart is still broken. Her interview pretty much showed she’s not over him. It must be a million times worse when the whole world knews about it and is watching. I feel bad for her

  15. JRenee says:

    Maybe she allowed her facial expression to reveal her feelings purposely…

  16. S says:

    Hey, I give them huge props that they posed together, even if some of them look unsurprisingly awkward. I thought after that super awkward interview she gave they’d be 10,000 ft. apart at all times.

    I Googled after seeing this story and Refinery 29 has some pics where they look very happy together, even cozy and a bit lovey dovey. Honestly wouldn’t be that surprised to see them reunite. I mean, it’s something Evans has done before, more than once, with exes, and I think it’s clear that Slate is still very much into him.

  17. HeidiM says:

    Poor Octavia’s face. That smile.

  18. KatieBo says:

    Love the dress, not the styling. I think it would have looked really pretty with softer hair and makeup.

    Chris Evans always looks like he’s holding his breath or something… He never looks relaxed to me…

  19. Bridget says:

    I’m busting out my Armchair Psychology degree here. I’ve always wondered if she hopped into a relationship with Chris as a way of avoiding truly dealing with her divorce (whether or not she did the leaving). Didnt she write in her book something along the lines of waking up and realizing that your spouse isn’t in love with you anymore? Or falling out of love? I should see if I can dig that up.

    EDIT: the only part I can find is about feeling taken for granted and like you put all of your eggs in one basket.

    • Div says:

      Yeah, I’m not saying the timeline isn’t sketch and I think some of the Marvel suits probably quashed tab reports of a possible affair…but I am also pretty sure Jenny had checked out of her marriage (had separated or talked about separation) before she met Chris even if she was “technically married.” I do roll my eyes though because if it was a woman, and not Chris, you know they would be vilified like crazy.

      Anyway, I do feel bad for her. I think he was kind of her rebound and she got really invested in him, but he’s a player.

    • Sylvia says:

      I don’t know about her book because I just couldn’t with that much of her writing, but I did see on her twitter a few months before gifted began that she wanted to suck captain america’s d**k (she literally said that), and her husband thought she was lol so funny haha, and then… 3 months later she was filming gifted with cap in a throwaway role that she actually fought for… and she now says she and her husband were already separating then although they bought a house in December…

      I think they both look awkward, and I don’t feel even the tiniest bit bad for either one. Like, that’s what happens when you’re public figures and you screw around (on your husband, with the shady timeline to make it seem better because you assume people are dumb) and it fails like most people with sense knew it would… and worse, you’re actors, but couldn’t even fake it till your movie that was originally marketed on your “real life romance” came out. ¯_(ツ)_/ ¯

  20. Your mom says:

    She’s an ACTRESS!!! She shouldn’t have human FEELINGS!! Ick!!! So what, she was completely vulnerable and shared too much and now has to face the man who broke her heart? Big deal. She’s an ACTRESS so she just push those feelings waaaaay down to save our delicate feelings. Nah, we’ll just write bitchy comments about her instead! Yay!! Every one wins!!!

  21. Rocio says:

    I feel for her. Chris seems like a douche. She’s amazing and so pretty. She’ll find someone soon.

  22. Prairiegirl says:

    Octavia looks great, BTW.

    • HappyMom says:

      I love Octavia-but I think that dress is kind of boring. I wish her stylist could have picked something else.

  23. browniecakes says:

    You also have to wonder if her expression is a result of who knows what the paps are yelling out during the photos.

  24. Jayna says:

    I love the dress.

  25. OTHER RENEE says:

    She may be an actress but she’s a human being first. She has every right to be upset. You can see she’s doing her best to keep cool.

  26. Christine says:

    Jenny uncomfortable? Please. She was loving EVERY minute of being next to Chris. It was bordering on desperate. Give me a break. Chris is the one who looks like he doesn’t want to be near her.

  27. Anastasia Beaverhausen says:

    I don’t really care for her much but I do feel sorry for her. She seems like she got her heart broken. I like Chris Evans but I really wish he would stop with the Donald Trump Jr/American psycho hairdo, it looks terrible