Film icon Ellen Burstyn stepped out for a red carpet appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival to celebrate one of her biggest films, Requiem for a Dream.
Burstyn, 92, joined Brendan Fraser at a panel held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the film. She dazzled in a bright yellow blazer as she took the stage with her former costar.
Director Darren Aronofsky was also in attendance at the event, recognizing the legacy of the 2000 psychological drama, which also starred Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. Upon its release, the film received rave reviews, and the compelling story based on the 1978 novel of the same name has withstood the test of time.
While walking into the event, Burstyn signed autographs and took selfies with fans who were waiting outside. In a TikTok video posted by a fan, someone could be heard referring to Burstyn as “Sara Goldfarb,” the character she played in Requiem for a Dream. “That’s me!” she playfully said.
As she made her way onto the red carpet, she snuck up behind Aronofsky and wrapped her arms around him before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Aw,” someone could be heard saying behind the camera in the TikTok video.
Requiem for a Dream remains one of Burstyn’s most memorable roles to date, and she happened to learn one of the biggest pieces of advice she had ever gotten in her career while on the set of the film.
“The scene in the film where Sarah goes to the TV station, Darren gave me the best piece of direction I ever got in my life,” she said during an October 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight while celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary.
Burstyn explained that the scene was shot four times and “each time Darren was happy with it.”
“But then instead of stopping, he said, ‘OK, we’ve got that, it’s in the can. Now just do one more and do whatever you want,’” she recalled. “So I felt that I had been doing whatever I wanted, and I had done it four times, and it was good. I don’t know why I have to do it again, but alright.”
She continued, “And then, something happened. And that fifth take is what’s in the film because what he did is he took all of the obligations off it where I didn’t have to do it a certain way. I didn’t have to do it the way it was in my mind. I just did it, and something else came through, and that, for me, became a really important lesson. You have to be open to what comes and allow that to be expressed, and that has a deeper level of truth than you do when you’re obligated to make it right. Best direction I ever got.”
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