Jenna Ortega
The Starboy is coming to the silver screen! The Weeknd will be starring in his first feature film, his rep told Billboard Tuesday (Feb. 28).
The “Die For You” hitmaker (real name Abel Tesfaye) will not only star but also write and produce the as-yet-to-be-named film, which is being helmed by critically acclaimed director Trey Edward Shults (Waves, It Comes At Night), who is also co-writing and executive producing. Golden Globes-nominated Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega will co-star alongside The Weeknd and is credited as the film’s executive producer. The Banshees of Inisherin actor and Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan will also be in the cast.
The film is currently shooting in Los Angeles.
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The Weeknd’s producing partner Reza Fahim — who co-created the superstar’s upcoming HBO series The Idol — Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are also credited as the film’s producers. Fahim is also one of the co-writers. Director of photography Chayse Irvin (Blonde, BlacKkKlansman) is also joining the production.
The chart-topping superstar tapped his frequent collaborator, producer Oneohtrix Point Never, to score the film with him, just one year after he co-executive produced his latest album Dawn FM. OPN also previously scored the 2019 film Uncut Gems, which The Weeknd also starred in.
The Weeknd is represented by CAA, manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby and Amir “Cash” Esmailian and attorney Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. Shults is represented by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Ortega is represented by CAA, Gilbertson Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Keoghan is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, B-Side Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
Jenna Ortega sat down with her former Bizaardvark co-star Olivia Rodrigo to discuss her role as Wednesday Addams in the new Netflix series Wednesday in a new interview.
Chatting for the newest issue of The Face magazine, Ortega described working with director Tim Burton on Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family spin-off as both “incredible” and “very intense and meticulous.”
“I didn’t really know what to expect and every time I’d spoken to him prior… he’s a man of very few words,” she said. “He’d never done TV before and I was like, ‘What’s our schedule going to look like? What scenes are getting pushed to tomorrow?’ After we established [Wednesday’s] look – which was also very exciting to see him do, because he’s such a visionary – he refused to shoot anything that didn’t satisfy that itch that he had in his brain. It’s very insightful to see.”
Ortega also compared the role of Wednesday to her part in Scream from earlier this year, telling the pop star — whom she worked with on the Disney Channel sitcom Bizaardvark back in 2018 — that Wednesday is “a bit more campy” than running away from Ghostface. But either way, she’s not one to get freaked out over all things horror.
“There are some really disturbing photos out there of me smiling super wide with stuff all over my face, laying on the floor covered in blood,” she recalled of filming Scream. “I love that stuff because it’s not real. Knock on wood, I haven’t been stabbed yet, so for me it’s still a fun thing that I do at work, which is so awful to say. I love it when the blood comes out. I love shooting chase scenes – they’re very fun for me.”
Wednesday is set to premiere on, of course, Wednesday (Nov. 23).
Read Rodrigo and Ortega’s full conversation for The Face here.
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