“Big Little Lies” actress Zoë Kravitz will step behind the camera and take a seat in the director’s chair for the first time in an upcoming film.
While this is the first time Kravitz will hold the directing title, she has gained experience by contributing with production for Hulu’s High Fidelity alongside her starring role.
The film, titled Pussy Island, will follow the story of Frida, an L.A. waitress who strategically inserts herself in tech-billionaire Slater King’s circle and scores an invite to a party on a private island. The smart young woman can tell that something dark is brewing beyond the glitz and the glam of the elite, and seeks to find out exactly what that is.
When speaking of the eyebrow-raising title of the film, Kravitz told Deadline:
“The title means a lot of things... it alludes to this time and place we claim to not be in anymore, in terms of sexual politics. People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behavior. It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways. I like that the title leads with that and has some heavy meaning beneath it.”
Kravitz originally wrote Pussy Island with the mindset she would cast herself as Frida. Instead, she has chosen to give the role to somebody else in order to fully step behind the scenes for her first directing position. It is unknown who is likely to secure the leading role alongside Magic Mike’s Channing Tatum as Slater King.
Tatum was shocked that he was chosen for the role stating:
“When Zoë called me about this, I was shocked. I didn’t know her... This came out of nowhere and the subject matter made me say, wait, why are you thinking about me for this? No one gives me a chance to play a role like this, everybody throws me down a different alley and expects me to do a certain thing. It was scary and liberating, just to be able to have a free conversation.”
The film is set to begin production next year.
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