Fina Strazza, the Fear Street: Prom Queen and Paper Girls star, is set to produce and star in the romantic drama Any Way You Want Me, directed by Rana Strazza, who is also her mother.
Strazza will play Billie Blake, who returns home when her mother inherits a dress shop next to her high school sweetheart Calvin Wilkes’ diner. Forced to face Calvin, Billie must contend with the truth, and lies, that ended their romance, according to a synopsis from the producers.
Strazza joins an ensemble cast that includes Cobie Smulders, Iris Apatow, Brian Altemus and Callan Potter. Anyway You Want Me, set in 1950s New England and now shooting in Toronto, is also being shopped this week to international buyers at TIFF: The Market.
“My mother has been my greatest collaborator for my entire career. She is the smartest, most hardworking woman I have ever met. There are few folks better equipped to create the equally enchanting and sentimentally accurate world she’s built. To be producing alongside her and portraying our beautiful Billie Blake in her love letter to the films that influenced her own artistry is such a full-circle joy,” Fina Strazza said in a statement on Sunday.
The film will be produced by First Magnitude Films and Stagg Forrest Films, with Matt Strazza, writer/director Rana Strazza, and Jeff Cryder serving as executive producers. Myrthin Stagg and Kate Forrest also share producer credits.
“As new and older generations revisit analog charms and long for ordinary connection in a hyper-connected world, Any Way You Want Me is a simple love story crafted to emulate the movies of a bygone era,” Rana Strazza added in her own statement.
Fina Strazza is represented by Paradigm and Mara Entertainment. Cobie Smulders is represented by UTA, while Brian Altemus is represented by Innovative Artists and Linden Entertainment. Callan Potter is represented by The Talent House and David Dean Management. Iris Apatow is represented by UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment.