EXCLUSIVE: Actress Alexi Wasser (Poker Face) has made her feature directorial debut with Messy, a relationship comedy she also wrote and leads, which is now in post. Others appearing alongside her include Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Mario Cantone (And Just Like That…), Ione Skye (Beef), Jack Kilmer (Palo Alto), Michael Panes (We Bought a Zoo), Ruby McCollister (Search Party), Dion Costelloe (Blue Bloods) and Merlot.
Aiming for a run on next year’s festival circuit, Messy follows the life of brutally self-aware, promiscuous, love addict Stella Fox (Wasser), who moves to New York after a devastating break up, and all her disappointing romantic dalliances over the course of a summer.
Wasser produced the film alongside the New York-based production company Simone Films, founded by Rebekah Sherman-Myntti and KJ Rothweiler. Bart Cortright served as its cinematographer.
“I call it a comedy of disappointments, very much based on my life,” said Wasser of the project. “Searching for love, perpetually unsatisfied, and trying to reconcile my never-ending quest to find love, with my complete discomfort and dissatisfaction in relationships.”
Wasser has previously been seen on series like Poker Face, Search Party, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Girls, among others, as well as films like Art School Confidential.
Currently starring on CBS’s The Equalizer, Goldberg has also been seen in recent years on shows like God Friended Me and Graves, along with the Bruce Willis-led action comedy Once Upon a Time in Venice.
An Emmy nominee for his work on HBO’s Silicon Valley, Middleditch also recently led CBS’ sitcom B Positive and stars in Hulu’s animated series Solar Opposites.
Cantone is a regular on Max’s And Just Like That…, which returns for its second season on June 22nd. Other recent TV credits for the actor include Girls5eva, Better Things and Gravesend.
Known for roles in films like Say Anything, Skye has most recently been seen on series like Beef and Made for Love.
The star of Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto, Kilmer most recently appeared on Disney+’s Willow.
Panes has been seen in films like The Man in the Woods and We Bought a Zoo, and on series like Bull.
McCollister’s recent credits include Cinema Toast and Search Party.
Costelloe has been seen on shows like Blue Bloods and City on a Hill, and in Indies like God’s Time.
Wasser is repped by Buchwald and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Goldberg by Elevate Artist Management, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Middleditch by Kirsten Ames Management and Schreck Rose Dapello; Cantone by Insurge-Ent and Felker Toczek Suddleson; Skye by Buchwald, Catherine Poulton Management and Management Production Entertainment; Kilmer by Gersh, Authentic Talent & Literary Management and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum; Panes by Phoenix Artists; McCollister by Paradigm and Avalon Management; and Costelloe by Boals, Winnett & Associates and Davien Littlefield Management.