Culture / Film

Léa Seydoux is joining Mikey Madison in A24’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’

What do you get when you combine two of the biggest actresses in Hollywood? A24’s The Masque of the Red Death, a feverish reimagining of the Edgar Allan Poe classic, apparently.

Mikey Madison has already been circling the lead role of the project for quite some time. From her breakout in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to her raw, Oscar-winning turn in Anora, Madison has carved out a niche playing women who are as compelling as they are chaotic. Now, she's being joined by an actress with an equally starry reputation: Léa Seydoux.  Here's what we know.

 

What is The Masque of the Red Death about?

Described as “wildly revisionist,” this adaptation comes from director Charlie Polinger, who is also behind the upcoming indie drama The Plague, currently in post-production. Set in a world gripped by disease, the film follows a mad prince who invites the wealthy elite into his castle to escape the spreading plague. Inside, he throws a decadent masquerade ball in seven elaborately decorated rooms.

Madison is reportedly set to play twin sisters who have been separated by class and circumstance. One has grown up inside the prince’s inner circle, surrounded by luxury, while the other has lived among the lower classes, struggling to survive in the diseased world outside. When the long-lost sister infiltrates the castle, their reunion becomes the catalyst for a collision of identities, and the unraveling of the illusion of safety behind the castle walls.

 

Who is cast?

Originally, the role of the twins was thought to have gone to Sydney Sweeney. But according to reports, the actress has had to step back due to scheduling conflicts, with Madison taking her place. It marks only her second project since she won the Oscar for Best Actress. The first is Reptilia, the latest movie from filmmaker Alejandro Landes Echavarría, which also stars Kirsten Dunst.

The latest addition to the cast is Seydoux, who is reportedly playing "a scheming lady-in-waiting who is conniving her way to the top."

 

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