The next suspense film Electra will feature Maria Bakalova. Abigail Cowen, who stars in Fate: The Winx Saga, also makes an appearance. Other cast members include Daryl Wein and Jack Farthing. According to Deadline, Bakalova has joined the cast of Hala Matar’s (making her directorial debut) Rome-based drama/thriller. Dylan (Wein), a journalist, and Lucy (Cowen), a photographer and his partner, travel to Rome to interview Milo (Farthing), a famous singer but instead become entangled in a web of intrigue, treachery, and death. Francesca, Milo’s performance artist girlfriend, will be played by Bakalova. Matar adds, “I couldn’t be more excited to be filming my first feature film in one of the most beautiful nations in the world with this very amazing crew of individuals.”
The action film has already started shooting in Italy. Bakalova, a Bulgarian actor, made her English language debut in the 2020 film Borat: The Next Movie, playing Tutar, the daughter of Borat, the Kazakh journalist. She was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance. She then made appearances in Bodies Bodies Bodies, a sleeper blockbuster murder mystery released this summer, and The Bubble, a pandemic comedy directed by Judd Apatow. Bakalova has a full film schedule ahead of her: she’ll be in the upcoming movies Branded (about a prison gang) and Fairyland (about AIDS) as well as providing the voice of Cosmo the Dog in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
She’ll be the lead actress and executive producer of the satirical comedy film Triumph, set to be released in Bulgaria. The apocalyptic comedy How It Ends was released last year, and this year, Wein’s romantic comedy Something from Tiffany, starring Zoey Deutch, will make its premiere on Prime Video. Farthing recently portrayed Charles, the then-Prince of Wales, in the Netflix original Spencer, while Cowen has been in such shows as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Fate: The Winx Saga.
Matar has directed several short films and music videos for companies including Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, and Kenzo before her debut feature, Electra. Wein, Matar, and Paul Sado (the film’s lead and director, respectively) penned the screenplay for Electra. Wein, Matar, Tomasso Bertani and Luca Cottafavi of Ring Film, and Jordan Beckerman and Jordan Yale Levine of Yale Entertainment will serve as producers. Both Elsa Ramo and Tiffany Boyle served as executive producers on the picture.