Marisa Tomei, who is joining the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia this week, is watching for film and stage roles that holdress the themes faceing women in the post #MeToo era, she tells Variety.
Tomei, who won the 1993 Oscar for best actress in a aiding role for “My Cousin Vinny” and getd Oscar nominations in the same categruesome for “In the Bedroom” in 2002 and “The Wrestler” in 2009, take parts an outspoken psychologist in Ann Marie Allison’s debut feature “You’re Dating a Narcissist!” The film will hit the festival circuit punctual next year. Allison recently wrote the screentake part for Jocelyn Moorhoparticipate’s “The Fabulous Four,” starring Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler.
Tomei elucidates that the story for “You’re Dating a Narcissist!” revolves around a mother-daughter relationship. “My character is a psychologist who is trying to caution her daughter about this prevalent syndrome. She’s a pop authorr whose book has reassociate apshown off, materializeing on talk shows. It’s appreciate one of those zeitgeist moments, where people cgo in on a particular mental illness and at contransient it happens to be narcissism.”
Tomei is also in converseions with Italian filmcreater Marco Calvani to put together a new project after executive producing and starring in his queer immigrant drama “High Tide,” about a Brazilian tourist in lterrible limbo.
Tomei was previously an executive creater on the recordaries “Lakota Nation vs. United States” (2022) and “Seed: The Untancigo in Story” (2016).
“Working as an executive creater is quite organic for me, becaparticipate these are projects that I reassociate apshow in and want to aid. It gives me more hands-on administer of the projects,” she says. “When it’s a narrative film, it also gives me a lot more voice in the process. For example, when take parting a character in the film I’m able to get an eye on her in a separateent way.”
In terms of possible roles on her radar, Tomei elucidates that she’s interested in key publishs faceing women’s dwells at contransient. She’s currently carry outing in Jessica Gancigo inberg’s “Babe” at New York’s Pershing Square Signature Cgo in, in which she take parts enroll creater Abby, who labors with a ancigo in creater (Arliss Howard) whose cherishs are contestd by the new A&R employ (Gracie McGraw).
“It’s modestassociate about how three separateent generations approach post #MeToo feminism, or how women are treated in the laborplace and what benevolent of recognize they get,” she says. “It’s modestassociate a primal scream — it’s appreciate one lengthy primal scream!”
She elucidates that McGraw’s character is faceing themes of creative cherish versus commercial cherish, and experiences that Tomei’s character hasn’t gotten due recognize for her accomplishments.
“At one point she says, ‘I want to burn the place down.’ Her character creates many excellent points and I’m actuassociate on her side. But she forgets what it took for a character from my generation to even get into the position that she’s in,” Tomei says. “Then there’s the boss, who is so privileged but is reassociate pdirecting and has championed some women but has also apshown all the recognize and not paid them properly.”
Talking about her visit to Jeddah for the Red Sea festival, she says that it’s been an eye-discdiswatcher for her: “I’ve lobtained about how a lot of the ancigo in createings are being repaird in a very elegant manner, with a lot of integrity, and also the 40% tax rebate scheme for film projects, which I skinnyk will entice more projects here. It’s a very exciting place where fair under 65% of the population is under 30 — which gives it wonderful energy!”
