EXCLUSIVE: I Love LA star and writer Rachel Sennott has booked a key supporting role alongside Chris Hemsworth, Taron Egerton, Zazie Beetz and Alec Baldwin in Matt Ross’ feature Kockroach, which begins filming in Australia next week.
The New York-set crime pic, based on the William Lashner novel, is the story of a mysterious stranger who takes on the city’s criminal underworld, transforming himself into a larger-than-life boss in a city where power is everything. Ross directs from a screenplay by Jonathan Ames (You Were Never Really Here) with revisions by Ross.
Andrew Lazar (American Sniper) and Christina Weiss Lurie (Persuasion) produce. Black Bear will continue selling international rights at the upcoming Cannes market. CAA Media Finance and Range Select co-rep domestic.
Lashner’s novel is a re-imagining of Franz Kafka’s classic Metamorphosis in which a man wakes up to find that he has been transformed into a cockroach, so we hear there’s a fun supernatural element to the movie.
Sennott is currently leading the writers room on season two of HBO hit I Love LA, which is expected to shoot this year. Her role in Kockroach isn’t expected to take her away from the series for long. She also recently co-created and executive-produced Big Mistakes alongside Dan Levy for Netflix, and is co-writing the script for The Heidi Fleiss Story, starring Aubrey Plaza. Movie roles include Shiva Baby, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Saturday Night, Bottoms and A24’s recent Sundance pic The Moment.
Sennott is represented by WME, OPE Partners, and Yorn, Levine.