Award-winning actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus has shared a major update about Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated Thunderbolts* movie. Louis-Dreyfus will be reprising her role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who first appeared in an episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
During a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Veepalum confirmed that the Thunderbolts* had "just wrapped [filming] last week," after a five-month-long production in Atlanta, Georgia. Louis-Dreyfus also went on to express how much she enjoyed working with her co-stars, whom she described as "pretty dreamy." In addition, while talking about the upcoming superhero movie’s all-star ensemble cast, the Emmy winner inadvertently confirmed Lewis Pullman’s casting as Sentry, even though the Top Gun: Maverick actor had continued to deny or play coy about his involvement in the project during previous interviews.
"Loved [the production]. I got to work with really cool people, who we already know are in the film. Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell. It was pretty dreamy," Louis-Dreyfus said. She also revealed what she likes about Valentina, revealing that she said yes to the role due to the character’s mysteriousness. "I like who she is, as a character, which is mysterious. Is she good, is she bad? It’s a little bit unclear," she continued. "I like the idea of her maybe being a little bit of a puppet master. I liked that they were kind of just dropping her into different projects a little bit here, a little bit there."
Marvel Studios Has Assembled the MCU’s Anti-Heroes
Thunderbolts* hails from director Jake Schreier and Emmy-winning scribe Lee Sung Jin, who were the team behind Netflix’s acclaimed dark comedy series Beef. Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow) and Joanna Calo (The Bear, BoJack Horseman) are also being credited as co-writers on the project. Calo also previously collaborated with Schreier and Lee on the Beef series. Created in 1997 by writer Kurt Busiek for Marvel Comics, the upcoming MCU movie will center around the titular group of anti-heroes and villains, who have been assembled by Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina. The ensemble cast will consist of returning Marvel vets Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/ Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/ Taskmaster, and Wyatt Russell as John Walker/ US Agent.
The main cast will be joined by franchise newcomers Lewis Pullman and Geraldine Viswanathan, who have been tapped to portray the respective roles of Sentry and Valentina’s assistant. Before Pullman and Viswanathan’s casting, Oscar nominee Steven Yeun and Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri were originally cast in the movie. However, due to scheduling conflicts caused by 2023’s Hollywood strikes, Yeun and Edebiri ultimately exited the project. "Who knows what goes on behind the scenes, but I've always wanted to join the universe in whatever capacity, and this just came up," Viswanathan said after her casting was announced. "There's a lot of ... It was destiny. Destiny called me on the phone and I picked up, and I said, 'I'll be there.' Very excited."
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