Ariela Barer, from “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” “The Last of Us,” has joined the cast of Sean Durkin’s film “Deep Cuts,” for A24. This is the role that was previously occupied by Odessa A’Zion, until online outrage about her casting led to her vacating the project.
Barer will join previously announced cast members for Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey in the adaptation of Holly Brickley’s debut novel, which was published last year.
A’Zion’s casting sparked controversy since the version of the character is described in the novel as having Mexican and Jewish heritage. The actress admitted that she hadn’t read the novel before taking the part and quickly backed out of the project. Now Barer, who is Mexican American and Jewish, has filled that role.
The project, set in the 2000s, is described as “a love story about two music-obsessed twenty-somethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade
“Moving from Brooklyn bars to San Francisco dance floors, ‘Deep Cuts’ examines the nature of talent, obsession, belonging, and above all, our need to be heard,” reads the novel’s official synopsis.
“The Iron Claw” filmmaker Durkin will write and direct the film, with Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and producer Blake Mills creating the original music for the movie.
“Deep Cuts” is produced by Central’s Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, along with Durkin, Anthony Katagas, Jordan Tappis and A24. Barer is represented by OPE Partners, Paradigm, ID and Felker Toczek Suddleson McGinnis Ryan LLP.
