Baywatch and Percy Jackson and the Olympians actress Alexandra Daddario was part of one of the most entertaining summer binges when she starred alongside Jennifer Coolidge and Connie Britton in HBO’s The White Lotus. Now that the limited series has concluded, what’s the 35-year-old up to next? Well, she’s set to star in a coming-of-age movie with Jean Smart that’s named after another blooming plant.
Alexandra Daddario will star in a movie called Wildflower, alongside the Hacks Emmy winner, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Kiernan Shipka and Spontaneous’ Charlie Plummer, per Deadline. Wildflower follows a young woman named Bea Johnson from birth to graduation while she deals with growing up with two intellectually disabled parents and an extended family that isn’t necessarily a big help in making things easier for her.
Wildflower is being described as a “dark comedy,” and is based on a real family and the award-winning 2020 documentary from director Matt Smukler of the same name. The movie is about Christina Stahl, who found the time to be in flag football, track and field, honors classes and have a full-time job while “raising” both of her parents. Smukler is Stahl’s uncle and will direct this feature film version of Wildflower from a script written by Jana Savage, who previously penned Netflix’s teen film #Realityhigh.
As Christina Stahl shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show earlier this year, her mother was born with part of her brain not functioning and has the “ability of a six-year-old.” One would imagine Jean Smart will be portraying Christina Stahl’s mother Sheila, but it seems as if her father Mike has not been cast yet. Stahl has said that she felt like she started becoming her own parent to herself when she was at the age of nine.
The documentary focuses on Christina Stahl making a decision as to whether she would leave her parents and go off to college, or continue taking care of her parents and providing support to them. There was a shift in their family dynamic during the documentary when Christina Stahl suffers a serious head injury that leads her parents to start really taking care of her. Stahl has since moved to Florida to pursue a college degree and study biology.
Wildflower will clearly deal with some intense familial dynamics and struggles, and could make for powerhouse performances from Alexandra Daddario and Jean Smart. We’ll have to wait and see who Kiernan Shipka and Charlie Plummer will play.
Kiernan Shipka recently signed on to reprise her role as Sabrina in a Riverdale crossover episode following the cancellation of her own series. Charlie Plummer has gained some attention as of late for starring in coming-of-age stories like Looking For Alaska, Words on Bathroom Walls and Moonfall starring Halle Berry. Alexandra Daddario’s latest movie was called Die in a Gunfight, which premiered on digital over the summer. While we wait for Wildflower, you can check out what other movies are coming up next with CinemaBlend’s 2021 movie release schedule.