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| The Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard was transformed into a California version of the Chateau de Versailles after a special screening of "Marie Antoinette" Monday night. Contemporary Hollywood royalty — including everyone from Pedro Almodovar, Mischa Barton, Drew Barrymore, Maria Bello, Orlando Bloom, Penelope Cruz and Will Ferrell to Milla Jovovich, Donovan Leitch, Courtney Love and Rose McGowan — delicately held glasses of champagne and wandered amid crystal chandeliers, candelabras, King Louis XIV chairs, gilded mirrors, elaborate flower arrangements and heat lamps. They didn't all bear regal manners. "It feels good!" Leitch told Jason Schwartzman, who plays Louis XVI in the film, as he tapped the actor's royal bottom on the purple carpet before the premiere at the ArcLight. "Lots of Pilates, I'll bet." Schwartzman, Kirsten Dunst, Steve Coogan and other actors shot the lavish production directed by Sofia Coppola in the real Versailles. They weren't completely convinced that the Marmont could rival its French counterpart. "The chateau's a great hotel, but to be truly royal, the beds have to be much shorter," said Schwartzman. "People used to sleep sitting up when I was king." "I don't mean to insult the chateau, but they have to reupholster everything because it's so drab compared to colorful Versailles," added Dunst, who plays the teenage queen. "And they must start serving macaroons to every arriving guest." Not everyone was critical. "It's impossible to duplicate the pomp, circumstance and regal air of Versailles in L.A.," claimed Coogan. "But the Chateau Marmont is more fun." "Trust me, the Chateau Marmont doesn't want to be Versailles," said a pregnant Coppola, wearing a dress and shoes by Chanel, one of the evening's sponsors. "But it's a great motif for a party." Indeed, let them eat fake. |