Madonna thanks ex-husbands for movie advice

POPSTAR Madonna thanked her ex-husbands for encouraging her to take up a career in movies, as she arrived in Venice for the world premiere of her lavish royal drama WE.

The 53-year-old American has been married to US actor and director Sean Penn and British film maker Guy Ritchie — and has spent much of the last few years behind the camera rather than on the stage.

WE, her second feature film, appears at the Venice film festival outside the main competition, but the presence of one of the world’s biggest celebrities inevitably dominated the attention of the world’s press.