Kiki Layne on Don’t Worry Darling: ‘they cut us from most of the movie’


I know KiKi Layne from If Beale Street Could Talk. She’s a talented actress and I was surprised to see her in some of the trailers for Don’t Worry Darling considering the time period in which the movie is ostensibly set. I did notice she was pretty absent from the bonkers promo though. I haven’t seen Don’t Worry Darling, but I have seen some more information about the 1950s setting, but I guess ultimately it doesn’t matter because apparently most of the scenes KiKi shot were cut. She posted an Instagram saying as much.

KiKi Layne is sharing her thoughts about ending up on the cutting room floor.

On Sunday, the 30-year-old actress revealed on Instagram that many of her scenes in Don’t Worry Darling were cut from the final edit of the movie.

Yet she remained upbeat about the experience of filming opposite Tony and Grammy Award winner Ari’el Stachel, whose role was also largely cut from the film.

“The best thing about #DontWorryDarling is that I was lucky enough to meet @arielstachel,” Layne wrote on Sunday. “They cut us from most of the movie, but we thriving in real life. 🙂🙂. Love you Ari ❤️❤️❤️❤️.”

Layne, who played Margaret in the movie, also posted a video of herself with Stachel, 31, alongside an image of the two filming a scene from the movie, in which he portrayed Ted.

The If Beale Street Could Talk actress added the hashtags about their blossoming off-screen relationship, “#GotMyCheck#GotMyMan#EverythingHappensforaReason.”

In response, Stachel commented on the post “My love. You are a queen and your talent shines so bright. I was thirsty then and I’m thirsty now ❤️❤️❤️.”

On his own Instagram, Stachel added a link to the post carrying the banner “My Queen ❤️❤️.”

The actor also posted a series of photos of the two on the set of the film and added his own tribute to Layne, writing that working with her was “My favorite part of my experience in Don’t Worry Darling.”

“This woman did phenomenal work and I was thirsty the second I met her,” he added.

[From People]

So most of KiKi’s scenes were cut, but she did meet her current boyfriend, Ari’el Stachel, on set. His scenes were also cut and he similarly posted a TikTok about the same. But KiKi got her check and her man so she’s happy. They’re both happy and look super cute together. The gushing is a little cringe, but I’m just a Grinch. At least they admit they’re thirsty! I do wonder what the rest of their scenes were supposed to entail. Are the posts a little shady? Yes, but nowhere near the shadiest thing about this movie. I’d probably gloat a bit too if I’d escaped from that mess unscathed. It’s probably better for both of them not to be closely associated with the messiest movie premiere in a long time. They don’t have to wear it, they didn’t get spit on, they got their checks, and they found love! Win, win, win, win.

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55 Responses to “Kiki Layne on Don’t Worry Darling: ‘they cut us from most of the movie’”

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  1. Persephone says:

    Peridot, I’m so glad you covered this.
    This film is sooo completely messy, but I’m glad they found each other!

  2. pocket litter says:

    Shameful behavior on those doing the editing/making decisions to cut these two people out of the final cut. OTOH, as long as the checks didn’t bounce, maybe they were lucky to be out of the mess that is DWD/OW

  3. Michael says:

    The movie was very “white-centered” and I am surprised they even had a woman of color in the cast. But it looks like she cut most of her scenes anyway so she could have the “aesthetic” she wanted. Olivia may have some trouble attracting talent to her movies in the future based on her actions in this movie

    • TQ says:

      Was thinking the same thing @Michael. Wilde keeping the ‘white aesthetic’ flowing and cutting the people of color? SMDH. But she’s so damned messy can’t say I’m surprised.

    • Jennifer says:

      Thought same, unfortunately.

      “Cut most of the scenes of the few PoC” isn’t even a shocker these days, I’m afraid. Glad she’s happy she got her check at least.

  4. girl_ninja says:

    I think there may be more to what she’s saying and even though she’s shading, Olivia probably did some more shit.

  5. Jessica says:

    The dude is a Tony winner. Seriously. And he was cut from the film.

    I saw the movie and their characters were very “white” and it felt very tokenism to me.

    About the movie..Lawd…I loved the scenery and the fashion, but that is right up my alley and I knew I would love that. Flo is amazing. Truly. Followed closely by Chris Pine. Harry is laughably awful..truly. People were literally laughing at his “serious” scenes. OW is very over the top and camp. The whole thing is a complete mess. The sex scenes are unnecessary and overdone. Very..let’s see Harry Styles in a sex scene. I don’t I’d we stand the attraction with him and this movie didn’t help. Some plot lines just were dropped mid movie. Messy.

  6. Vanessa says:

    Where are all the Olivia apologize for the last couple of thread who were going hard in the defense of her made excuses for her behavior blaming it all on Misogyny . What going to be the excuses of Olivia now she clearly didn’t value Kiki didn’t even have the decency as the director of the film to tell Kiki her scenes were cut Kiki wasn’t even invited to red carpet. Now tell me again how Olivia the white woman who is a asshole is victim in all this again 😒

    • Red says:

      Yes, but white men do this, so white women should get to be shitty too!/s

      Not only did Olivia just cut two poc out of her movie, but still used Kiki’s name on the poster. She also was interviewed for Elle because Kiki was the cover girl last year and Olivia was quoted as saying Kiki was so important to the script. This has done deep rooted racism going on, and even Gemma liked Kiki’s IG post.

      • Concern Fae says:

        Where your name is on the poster is in your original contract for the film. So to take her name off the poster, they would have had to renegotiate the contract.

        People get cut out of movies all the time. Where was Manny Jacinto in Top Gun? There ends up being a story line that doesn’t fit as well into the story as filmed as opposed to it written. It can be that it’s dead weight, or that it leaves people feeling it needed to be resolved, so it ends up cut.

        But, yeah, they thought they could be “diverse” but couldn’t make it work. At least deserved to get the news from either Olivia or one of the producers. A producer could have called her agent to let her know. Terrible mess.

    • Lizzie Bathory says:

      Yes. It’s crickets from the “Olivia is a victim of the patriarchy” crowd when talented non-white performers have their scenes cut while Harry Styles gets to make a fool of himself & walk the red carpet. But overall, they might have lucked on on this one.

    • Coco says:

      I’m sure they will be here saying Kiki is just pile-on and should shut up because David O Russel.

  7. RL says:

    I know Kiki Layne from the Old Guard on Netflix! I love that movie – it’s full of the most beautiful people.

    • BlueSky says:

      She was also in the Coming to America sequel and is one of the faces of Fashion Fair cosmetics. I follow her on IG. They just wrapped filming the sequel to Old Guard.

      I wasn’t surprised by this at all. OW is one of those performative feminist.

    • Jais says:

      I’m excited about the old guard sequel! Cool to hear they wrapped.

    • lucy2 says:

      That’s where I know her from too – she was AMAZING in that film, and I am so excited for the sequel. I highly recommend watching the first one, for anyone who hasn’t seen it. The whole cast is fantastic, but Kiki really was incredible.

  8. Renee' says:

    I saw the movie last weekend. While Kiki’s character, Margaret, was the catalyst for the “turn and big twist” (not really), I was surprised she wasn’t shown more in the movie. I was thinking while watching it that her character seemed to come out of the blue and then was through. Kiki’s character should have been fleshed out more, but then that would have meant cutting some of Olivia’s Wilde character, Bunny….which we know wasn’t going to happen!

    • Christine says:

      I read that Bunny’s character originally had a much smaller part and a lot of Olivia’s lines/screentime were previously given to KiKi and Gemma’s character. But once Olivia decided to cast herself, suddenly those parts were reduced and hers made bigger…

      • kirk says:

        I thought the script had already been rewritten once for it to even become a project. Then it gets rewritten again so OW gets more screen time? No wonder there are dropped plot lines. I’m waiting for the documentary about making the movie 😁

  9. Emmi says:

    Oof. I don’t know how much longer I can take the gossip surrounding this mess. I don’t like OW and she clearly f*cked around and found out. The woman doesn’t know when to shut up or that it’s a bad idea to lie about things you know can be disproven. Because you put yourself on tape. For the love of god.

    I just think that if there was so much bs going on, people should just say what happened or move on. Chris Pine was hilarious in Venice but also … a bit unprofessional? Clearly Florence couldn’t be forced to do the press conference, why did he participate?

    So KiKi and Ari’el (I need to stop looking at them, their faces are kind of blindingly beautiful) were mostly cut. That is either a completely normal thing that happens a lot or it’s something more sinister in which case, I’d love to know? Is OW a racist on top of a moron? It’s clearly implied. Because after Bridgerton, there is no excuse for anyone to be “faithful” to a period setting, especially when there’s a fantasy/supernatural element to it.

    I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired of this movie without having seen it.

  10. Bettyrose says:

    Just a comment on the time period. The movie takes place in the California desert. Of course there was racism and unofficial Jim Crow in California, but not legally and in the desert (right?!it’s a fake Palm Springs?) things were outside the norms of society. Point being there could have been middle class black families living alongside white families and still be within the realm of historically accurate. If those scenes were cut it was not in the spirit of historical accuracy.

    • SIde Eye says:

      Thank you @Bettyrose! Exactly! People act like the only characters Black actors could play in a 50s setting was a maid or a butler. That’s patently false and intellectual laziness – there’s a well documented and historical record of the Black middle class in America, Canada, and Europe dating back to FAR earlier. FFS these directors need to pick up a history book.

      That having been said, Kiki is a gorgeous woman. I had to pry myself away from looking at her pics. She’s also a talented actress. OW strikes me as exactly the type of person that would try to erase her. She ended up doing Kiki a favor – the irony of it all.

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      Brava. To you both. And good grief she’s a goddess.

    • Mcmmom says:

      Spoiler alert: “historical accuracy” is not a compelling argument in this movie.

  11. BeanieBean says:

    Didn’t see the movie, probably won’t, but I love the attitude–got my check, got my man, life is good. Kiki is beautiful and she & Ari make a cute couple.

  12. Nicole says:

    Every bit of my jaded heart loves this. I’m sure Kiki is more like she’s rolling her eyes at a certain level of privilege that “helped the aesthetic” that caused her scenes to be cut. I’m not mad for subtly calling it out that she’s still winning.

  13. Cava 24 says:

    The Oscars changed their requirements for diversity and inclusion in September 2020. DWD is not subject to the requirements because they don’t kick in until 2024. but it would have been a bad look to go out with an all white cast after the announcement of the new requirements. Kiki, Gemma. Ari’el and Asif were all announced as cast members in October 2020.

    • Bettyrose says:

      The reviews definitely don’t point to this being a Oscar contender so no worries on that point.

      • Cava 24 says:

        The studio thought it was potentially a contender when they greenlit and when it was filming. It might still get nominated for technical awards, it does have great costumes, set design, etc.

      • Cava 24 says:

        Also, and I should have made this more clear, I would love to know if the new requirements meant that the DWD team suddenly realized they had a totally white cast and scrambled to fix it.

  14. Case says:

    It was very wrong for her to not be invited to the red carpet. It is pretty standard for a lot of scenes to end up on the cutting room floor, though. In this case, it could be for racist, sinister reasons or could just be part of what is standard practice.

  15. Lady Digby says:

    I saw this 2 hour movie and was as confused as the heroine because you have a talented cast here being poorly served by the edit which makes the film incomprehensible. HS is given an extended and somewhat embarrassing solo dance sequence and indulged at every turn by the director. Kiki and Gemma Chan could have been fascinating in pivotal roles but instead have been reduced to decoration?! It looks to me like OW showcased her amateur actor BF at the expense of a talented cast because while HS maybe a super singer, as an actor he has a lot to learn. No wonder the professional actors feel as short changed as the audience unless you are a massive HFS fan!

    • Cava 24 says:

      The editor for Tenet was originally signed on to be the editor but she left the project. I wonder if she bailed because she realized the film wasn’t going to work with what they had shot?

      • Normades says:

        Awww. I usually hate OTT social media tributes too but this seems so sincere and they are INTO IT.

        I hope they get a chance to work with each other again, next time as the stars.

        (Sorry this wasn’t supposed to be a reply. Happens a lot to me lately).

      • Tiffany:) says:

        I read that one editor started, but left midway through. Then another editor took over, and they did multiple edits to clarify the story.

        Honestly, side-characters get trimmed from tv/film all of the time. It’s one of the heartaches of being an actor! I also don’t know how much OW was involved in editing, but she probably was at least in some respect.

      • Cava 24 says:

        @Tiffany:) – I wasn’t able to track down the timing for her exit, that is interesting. I wonder if they had too much or it just couldn’t hang together no matter what they did or what the situation was.

        Re: Kiki – Olivia is always trying to collect cred, rather than actually wanting to do the right thing but she would have been better off cred wise, trying to keep Kiki and Ari’el in the film so it must have been such a mess that that truly didn’t work.

    • mia girl says:

      Aside from her personal relationship with him, I see a scenario where Wilde as a producer pushed for more Styles in the film at the expense of better actors/storyline because she knew his fan girls would be a big part of the box office. She needed to feed them! Clearly she courted them all along with all the comments about him in interviews and his major presence in the trailers and clips. Double edge sword for her because she is also his partner, which also brought the wrath of some of those fans to her personally.

      Sucks that both these actors of color were cut from film. This is just another layer of mess for this film’s promotion and a disservice to these actors. Glad they found love though!

    • Sudie says:

      @mia girl, I agree about the extraness that Harry Styles was afforded by the director. And I suspect, this may be part of the reason there was tension on the set between FP & OW. The 4 minute dance routine that Harry did was total self-aggrandizement on Olivia’s part. She could have used that time to explain a few of the plot holes that I’ve read or showcased other actors a more in their parts. In Olivia’s mind, Harry was basically the star while filming and that is where she became unprofessional by pushing her boyfriend and I suspect it didn’t go over well with any of the cast!

  16. ME says:

    From the reviews of the movie, I would say they should be happy their scenes were cut ! They got the money and none of the bad reviews. Win win situation !

  17. Miss Owlsyn says:

    Sounds like they found love in a hopeless place.

  18. paper shoes says:

    Actors get cut from movies all the time, including ones more famous ones than her. Haven’t seen the movie but it doesn’t sound like its issues would be helped by having more characters to follow.

    • Nika says:

      I have watched this movie and in this specific case, cutting Kiki’s scenes was a really bad move. Her character is the crucial catalyst to Florence’s character’s story but her scenes were short and didn’t explain anything, the lack of her backstory makes everything even more confusing. There is also a video that was filmed by fans on the set and both her and Ari’el’s characters are being seen during the big finale but not in the final cut, which means they were not only cut, but Olivia has reshot this scene without them, while keeping all other (white) actors.

    • AngelaH says:

      Having more scenes with Kiki’s character would have helped this movie. She played a pivotal role and was supposedly very close to pugh’s character. It was just awkward the way she was barely in it and not like a side character whose scenes wouldn’t be missed in the greater story.

  19. Lynne D says:

    KiKi Layne is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, I hope she has many new projects that let her show her talents. DWD continues to be problematic on so many levels.

  20. Nika says:

    I can’t help myself but to think, that the gushy and lovely way Kiki and Ari’el introduced themselves as a couple was bit shade-throwing at Olivia and Harry? He was ignoring her most of the time at Venice and they weren’t even sitting together (and I’m not even mentioning the fact he didn’t come to her defense once and let her deal with this entire mess alone) meanwhile there is this loved-up couple that isn’t ashamed officially admit their feelings for each other. Olivia is probably seething she isn’t getting such an open support from her partner.