Charli XCX and Mel Ottenberg Talk Dream Roles, Fuck-Me Panties, and Cronenberg

It’s a sweaty Friday night, and Charli XCX just blessed the crowd at Music Hall of Williamsburg with songs from her upcoming album Music, Fashion, Film, alongside Clairo, Kim Petras, and underscores. After the show, Charli and crew popped over to Night Moves for the afterparty, where Mel Ottenberg and Hailey Benton Gates stole her for a quick backyard cig and got straight to it, talking about acting ambitions, favorite directors, and underwear situations.

FRIDAY 11: 55 PM JUNE 10, 2026 NEW YORK CITY

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MEL OTTENBERG: Music, fashion, film. Where were we? Oh, we were talking about film. 

CHARLI XCX: I was asking what director you would actually costume design for. Would you do a Gregg Araki movie?

OTTENBERG: Lars von Trier is one answer.

CHARLI XCX: Would you do a Harmony [Korine] movie?

OTTENBERG: If it was the right Harmony movie, yes. I’ve been on set with Harmony before, and it felt like actual magic; I feel like there’s more magic there to be had with him.

CHARLI XCX: Would you do a Gaspar [Noé] movie?

OTTENBERG: I would, but I really like my Lars von Trier idea right now.

CHARLI XCX: This is also me interviewing you.

OTTENBERG: I know. And by the way…

CHARLI XCX: No, I don’t want to answer any questions. I just want to interview you.

OTTENBERG: Okay, ask me more questions.

CHARLI XCX: Would you do a [Michael] Haneke movie?

OTTENBERG: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would do a Haneke movie. Benny’s Video is so psychotic..

CHARLI XCX: He’s so good.

OTTENBERG: And evil, and it’s literally so 2026. But I don’t have time to do Benny’s Video because there’s no real costume design.

CHARLI XCX: Yeah, we should be doing a fashion movie. What remake would you want to do?

OTTENBERG: I will say that if anyone does Valley of the Dolls or Beyond the Valley of the Dolls without me, the world would change in a very bad way. It would be like 9/11.

CHARLI XCX: Would you do…

OTTENBERG: My favorite movie of all time is Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

CHARLI XCX: It’s incredible. I saw it at the Academy Theater in LA. So fucking good.

OTTENBERG: It’s so good.

CHARLI XCX: Russ Meyer is stunning. Mel’s going to style the remake of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

OTTENBERG: Yeah. And honestly, Charli, if that doesn’t happen, I will kill people.

CHARLI XCX: The truth is that me and Hailey have one more in us. We have a triptych.

HAILEY BENTON GATES: A trilogy.

CHARLI XCX: We’ve done two so far, so… Hailey, what remake would you do? 

GATES: Actually, mine is a Gore Vidal, but Mel will know what it is.

OTTENBERG: I was saying yesterday during an interview with Derek Blasberg that Gore Vidal clearly had a really big fat cock.

HAILEY BENTON GATES: That would make sense.

CHARLI XCX: Mel, don’t say cock.

OTTENBERG: I can’t say cock? What do I say instead? Penis?

CHARLI XCX: No, you say dick.

OTTENBERG: Okay. Dick.

CHARLI XCX: As a Brit, when you say “cock,” it feels invasive.

OTTENBERG: Oh, I’m so sorry. I never want to make you uncomfortable, Charli.

CHARLI XCX: No, no. I mean, I love it when you do. Say cock again.

OTTENBERG: Cock.

CHARLI XCX: Oh, wow. 

OTTENBERG: Cock.

CHARLI XCX: It really hit me deep. “Cock.”

OTTENBERG: Cock, cock. Okay. 

CHARLI XCX: Are you going to act in more films?

OTTENBERG: Only if they ask me to, and if it’s a good idea, but actually,  Jordan Firstman asked me to be in Club Kid and I didn’t show up. 

CHARLI XCX:  Why not? 

OTTENBERG:  I think I was like, “just let The Moment come out first” 

CHARLI XCX:  You probably could’ve been in an Oscar-winning film.

OTTENBERG: Yes, I know.

CHARLI XCX: And you fumbled that for indie bullshit.

OTTENBERG: But you know what? It’s the movie I wanted to be in.

CHARLI XCX:  Well, good.

OTTENBERG: Thank you. 

CHARLI XCX:  What was the role in Club Kid?

OTTENBERG: Jordan said, “Come to the club tonight and we’ll find you a cameo.” By the way, it’s a really good movie.

CHARLI XCX: What is your dream role as an actor? Would you be playing yourself? Would you be playing a sexy love interest? Would you be playing a villain?

OTTENBERG: I think I should be a villain. I want to be a villain on Dr. Evil’s spaceship. 

CHARLI XCX: Sure.

OTTENBERG: But I also think that I could play—like if Woody Allen wasn’t canceled, it would be a Woody Allen movie, but he is canceled. I ain’t going to be shooting with no motherfucking… 

CHARLI XCX: Wait. Hold on, hold on. Did you see [Robert] Altman’s Pret-A-Porter?

OTTENBERG: Yes.

CHARLI XCX: I feel like you could be in it.

OTTENBERG: Yeah, I could be in Pret-A-Porter, but I wouldn’t want to be in Pret-A-Porter as—

CHARLI XCX: As a cameo. You want to be the main event. Is this all going in the interview?

OTTENBERG: It could if we want it to.

CHARLI XCX: Okay. Well, if it is, I want to know about your time as a costume designer on Asia’s movie.

OTTENBERG: Oh, amazing that you’re asking me that. The Asia Argento movie I costume designed is called The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.

CHARLI XCX: Yeah. And Cole Sprouse is in it?

OTTENBERG: Cole and Dylan Sprouse are both in it. Winona Ryder’s in it. Marilyn Manson is in it. I think Sam Rockwell is in it, but I could be wrong. Oh, Michael Pitt is in it.

CHARLI XCX: Hot and sexy.

OTTENBERG: Hot and sexy. Doing it was amazing and I didn’t know what I was doing, but we were in Knoxville, Tennessee, and there were all these amazing thrift stores and I would just buy all these clothes and create characters. And at the time, my number one dream job was right there doing the costumes for this JT LeRoy book’s movie. 

CHARLI XCX: Right, right, right.

OTTENBERG: It was amazing, but the movie’s a turkey. I want to ask you a question now.

CHARLI XCX: What?

OTTENBERG: What kind of underwear are you wearing?

CHARLI XCX: I’m wearing a black seamless thong.

OTTENBERG: Okay. What is your fuck me panty of the moment?

CHARLI XCX: My fuck me panty. I’m really into a neon AP. Neon Agent Provocateur.

OTTENBERG: Sheer?

CHARLI XCX: No, a sort of netted neon underwear and bra is where I’m always at right now. Well, this is actually blue and there’s little bows on it. It’s so cute.

OTTENBERG: Okay, fabulous. Let’s take a picture and then we’re done.

CHARLI XCX: Okay.

OTTENBERG: P.S. what will Ottenberg’s favorite track on this new album track be?

CHARLI XCX: I think it might be “No One Lasts Forever” featuring David Cronenberg. Or maybe “Card Declined.”

OTTENBERG: “Card Declined” is such a violent name. Fave Cronenberg movie?

CHARLI XCX: Maps to the Stars. Or The Dead Zone. Or Eastern Promises. Or Crash.

OTTENBERG: Or Videodrome. 

CHARLI XCX: Genuinely impossible to answer.

OTTENBERG: And A History of Violence and The Fly, et cetera et cetera. 

CHARLI XCX: Videodrome is amazing. Viggo in History… so hot. 

OTTENBERG: So fucking hot!