Marisa Tomei and Lena Olin have joined the cast of the forthcoming romantic comedy Upgraded. Their presence is added to those of Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux in Carlson Young’s sophomore movie. Deadline reports that the two acclaimed actresses have joined the production of Gulfstream Pictures’ romantic comedy, which stars Mendes as an auction house employee who takes a last-minute trip with her intimidating boss and ends up falling in love with Renaux’s character, a wealthy young man from Shadow and Bones. Tomei will represent Mendes’s employer, a tyrannical CEO at the auction business, while Olin will play Renaux’s mother, a rich art dealer.
Both tremendously brilliant and legendary, producers Mike Karz and Bill Bindley said they are “thrilled to be collaborating with them on this project.” Both of the ladies have substantial acting experience. Tomei’s breakthrough performance was in 1992’s My Cousin Vinny, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; she went on to receive Oscar nominations for her work in 2001’s In the Bedroom and 2008’s The Wrestler. She has been in several romantic comedies, such as Only You, What Women Want, and Someone Like You. She made her big screen debut in last year’s breakout film Spider-Man: No Way Home, and since then she’s been in the drama Delia’s Gone and the upcoming Anne Hathaway romance comedy She Came To Me. Olin, a Swedish actress who was discovered by Ingmar Bergman and went on to star in his landmark film The Unbearable Lightness of Being in 1988, is considered a pioneer in her field.
In addition to starring in the upcoming second season of Prime Video’s Hunters and Lasse Hallström’s Hilma as Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in 1989’s Enemies, A Love Story and is well-known to American moviegoers for her roles in Romeo is Bleeding, Chocolat, and The Reader. Upgraded was created by Mendes and her producing partner Rachel Matthews; the show was executive produced by Mendes, Matthews, Josie Rosen, and Matt Williams; and the script was written by Christine Lenig, Justin Matthews, and Luke Roberts. Lena Roklin of Luber Roklin Entertainment, Piers Tempest of Tempo Productions, and Karl Hall are also involved in the production for Gulfstream Pictures alongside Bindley and Karz.
Starring in both Premature and Scream, Helmer Carlson Young is a director and actor whose directorial debut, The Blazing World, debuted in 2017. To be seen next are Mendes and Maya Hawke in Do Revenge, a new Netflix dark comedy. The manufacture of Upgraded has begun in the UK.