Karla Sofía Gascón is back in the saddle after her Oscar-nominated work in Emilia Perez became the flashpoint of last awards season.
The Hollywood Reporter has the first look at Gascón in the 19th century-set Spanish western Trinidad, directed by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño.
The English-language feature filmed in recent months in the Canary Islands, but is set primarily in the United States. It stars Gabriela Andrada as Trinidad, a woman who flees persecution in Spain for the wild west. Along the way, she earns renowned for her skills with weapons, but also becomes a target of enemies, such as the widow Bronson (Gascón).
The actress describes her character as an “ultra-conservitive woman” who is “a kind of female Darth Vader with five children to protect and manipulate.”
“She hates immigration, even though she’s an immigrant herself, with deeply patriarchal values,” Gascón tells THR. “She’s anti-feminist and opposed to social progress, although she has always been a fighter and has earned the respect, even as a woman, of the people who operate on a foundation of deception. A kind of female Darth Vader.”
The team behind the $12 million film knew Gascón’s work from Emilia Perez, which made her an international star and an Oscar frontrunner before her best actress campaign crumbled after controversial tweets from the actress resurfaced.
“That her next role would be that of a villain seemed almost poetic to me, so it was a personal choice: her bilingual presence, the intensity she brings, and that ambiguous energy the character needs did the rest,” says Silvia Carvalho da Costa, founder of ISII Group, which is backing the project.
Carvalho da Costa took the controversy surrounding Gascón into account when casting her in the film, noting, “We’ve all been heroes in someone’s story and villains in someone else’s.”
Adds the producer: “I know Karla: in addition to being a great actress, she is, for me, a great person, and that outweighed any past controversy.”
As for Gascón, she is trying to move on after the controversy surrounding her Oscars season. Says the actress: “I can’t control the interpretations others make of me or the things they say, often taken out of context, manipulated, or simply false. What I can do—and will continue to do—is demonstrate, through my work and my daily attitude, that I am not the person some have tried to project.”
Distribution plans for the project will be announced at a later date.
ISII Group
ISII Group
