Rooney and Kate Mara had to speak in unison in ‘Bucking Fastard’

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Sisters Rooney and Kate Mara play sisters who speak in unison in Werner Herzog’s new film “Bucking Fastard,” which is having its world premiere Thursday at the Venice Film Festival.

The 83-year-old German filmmaker had actually met twins who spoke in unison some 45 years ago. Greta and Freda Chaplin dressed the same and became a bit of a tabloid fascination in the 1980s in the U.K. because of a stalking case. And they did spark an idea, but it was one that lay dormant for decades, constrained by the limitations of reality.

Then someone suggested that perhaps it didn’t have to be twins: What if it were the Mara sisters instead? All of a sudden, it came to life: He wrote the script in five days.

But his story is complete invention, he said. The Maras play the fictional Jean and Joan Holbrooke, who go on a literal and spiritual journey together as they try to find their place in the world.

Herzog was joined on the Lido by the Mara sisters, and Orlando Bloom, who plays the object of both of their affections. The film does not yet have a release date in the U.S.

“At first it was very daunting, the idea that we were going to be playing the same person,” Rooney Mara said. “But I think we found pretty quickly that having a lifetime together and all this history and a childhood of playing together, there was just this unspoken world between us.”

She added: “I’ve never laughed so much, we had so much fun.”

Kate Mara said speaking in unison almost felt like a song.

“It was very musical,” she said. “It happened quite naturally.”

They were so quick to pick it up, in fact, that Herzog cut the planned two-week rehearsal short after five days. He told the sisters, who have never before been in a movie together, that he’d meet them in Ireland “in front of my camera.”

Herzog said he was also excited to work with Bloom and to see him step out of what he’s known for: “The heartthrob for the teenies,” Herzog said. “And now you are the bucking fastard.”

Bloom said that Herzog “creates a sacred space for magic to happen.”

He added: “It’s the pinnacle of any actor’s career to be at the Venice Film Festival talking about a movie with Werner Herzog.”

Herzog dedicated the film to the late filmmaker David Lynch. While they were editing, he said he wished Lynch could be the first audience to see “Bucking Fastard.”

“We had a deep, deep understanding of each other’s work, although we were quite different,” Herzog said. “I wish we could turn the wheel of time back and invite him tonight. But it doesn’t happen like this.”

Orlando Bloom poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bucking Fastard" during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Kate Mara poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bucking Fastard" during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Director Werner Herzog poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bucking Fastard" during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Rooney Mara, left, and Kate Mara pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bucking Fastard" during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Rooney Mara, left, and Kate Mara pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bucking Fastard" during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening higher while oil prices continue to climb amid ongoing tension in the Middle East. Fighting between the U.S. and Iran has increased this week after the U.S. hit Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 368 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%. Nvidia rose 1% after the giant chip company said it would buy the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $13 billion. Treasury yields moved lower in the bond market.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

U.S. futures are mostly lower and oil prices continued to climb with the violence in the Middle East ongoing.

Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week. Fighting between the U.S. and Iran intensified after the U.S. hit Iranian rocket launchers Sunday on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran was planning to use them to send mines into the waterway.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.2%.

The renewed fighting has sent U.S. crude prices sharply higher this week, up 11%, a trend that continued Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8% to $97.33 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.1% to $92.92 a barrel.

Rising oil prices have added to existing inflationary pressures and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury is up 0.94% this week, although it fell to around 4.77% early Thursday. The yield hovered around 4.81% Wednesday, its highest level since 2023. The 2-year Treasury slipped Thursday to 4.36% after reaching 4.41% a day earlier, its highest mark in more than a year and a half.

On Friday, the crucial U.S. employment report for August is released.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX lost 0.1% to 25,819.38, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.3%, to 8,257.47. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 10,775.13. Asian markets were mixed.

The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the U.S. dollar, with the dollar trading at 156.07 yen Thursday, down from 158.71 yen late Wednesday. The dollar had surged to above 160 yen earlier in the week, raising expectations that regulators might intervene to prevent the yen from falling further.

The euro traded at $1.1612, up from $1.1588.

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Specialists Dilip Patel works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)