Here are a couple of things you should know about the horror-comedy film directed by the-late Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda Williams.
It’s been attempted here and there, and perhaps the most successful transition from Philippine Cinema to Hollywood almost never happened, if it weren’t for Dolly de Leon’s successful portrayal of an overseas-Filipina-worker turned ‘Captain’ of the wrecked ship in Ruben Östlund’s 2022 film Triangle of Sadness; of course there’s also Chai Fonacier’s portrayal of a Filipina caregiver set out for revenge in the Hollywood thriller film ‘Nocebo’ with Eva Green and Mark Strong. There have been other foreign films starring our very own talents in the past, but perhaps there’s nothing like the magnanimity of Liza Soberano’s attempt to cross over shores, building a career from “scratch” — relying only upon connections they’ve made through the usual route of attending Filipino-American events, and even sending in her audition tape… which is then reported to be *handpicked* by the director herself, Zelda Williams for a role that was created on behalf of Liza’s actual beaming positivity in the tape.
The plot of Lisa Frankenstein as seen in the trailer below show a young Lisa (not Liza) played by Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania’s Kathryn Newton who seems to have resurrected a Victorian man from the grave, played by Cole Sprouse (Riverdale, many others). In the trailer below we see that unlike the many *controversies* she’s had to endure for years for being outspoken (for speaking out on social and political issues, as well as on her own journey as an actress and as her family’s breadwinner at that!), she bears not ONE but many scenes as Taffy. She is also joined by American actress Carla Gugino, Henry Eikenberry, and Joe Chrest.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody pens the script for ‘Lisa Frankenstein’
“I have always toyed with themes of transformation and reinvention,” says screenwriter Diablo Cody, who catapulted onto the Hollywood stage with 2007’s “Juno,” for which she won the Academy Award, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Award for best original screenplay.
“In everything I write, someone is going through a dramatic change, whether it’s becoming possessed by a demon or dealing with a new stage of life,” continues Cody, who is also known for penning acclaimed film “Young Adult,” starring Charlize Theron, and the Megan Fox-led cult-classic “Jennifer’s Body.” “The question I’m always asking is: are we the same person after a profound change? How many parts can we swap or replace before we’re a totally new entity? This movie is a pretty literal interpretation of that!”
Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse are an onscreen couple ‘to-die for’
Playing the all-important role of Lisa Swallows is Kathryn Newton (“Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”), who shares that one of the biggest influences for her portrayal was Gene Wilder’s performance in “Young Frankenstein” (1974). “Gene Wilder was an incredible actor who was able to master that in-between of playing a character that’s so over-the-top, but still grounded and pulling the audience in,” Newton says.
IMHO, Newton has stolen the show since 2020’s FREAKY! The slasher comedy film where she switches bodies with a serial killer.
For Cole Sprouse (“Riverdale”), playing the creature reanimated by Lisa was the role of a lifetime, even though it meant having to act beneath layers of prosthetic makeup that had to be applied for hours each day and portraying the character primarily through moans, grunts and gestures. “His inability to speak was what really excited me, just technically, and I knew it would be a heavy physical role,” Sprouse says. “For me, it was an attempt to reach some more universal physical language about how we perceive emotions through gesture, through movement, which was fun.”
The Creature ignites the spark of life and love in Lisa, who now feels seen and heard. But Lisa has to keep it all hidden away and secret from her family, including kind, if somewhat clueless, step sister Taffy.
Liza Soberano plays ‘Taffy’, the antithesis of the sterotypical mean girl
“Taffy is my favorite character,” shares Cody. “She’s a beacon of positivity, and even when she’s unwittingly condescending or tone deaf, her intentions are always kind. She’s more protective of Lisa than anyone else in the film, other than the Creature. Lisa resents Taffy because she’s effortlessly beautiful and popular, but Lisa eventually comes to realize that her ire is misdirected. I felt that having Taffy be a standard ‘mean popular girl’ would be uninteresting. Most of the queen bees I’ve known were more complex than that.”
Cody has often written a less-stereotypical version of the “mean girl” trope in her films starting with Leah (Olivia Thirlby) in Juno, and of course Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) in Jennifer’s Body.
Carla Gugino plays ‘Janet’, Joe Chrest as ‘Dale’ and Henry Eikenberry plays ‘Michael Trent’
Janet is Taffy’s narcissistic mom who dotes on her own daughter, but is endlessly disapproving of Lisa. “Janet lives in Janet’s world for sure – she is definitely the hero of her own story,” says Gugino. “Janet has created and curated a perfect world and a perfect family in her mind, and she cannot imagine how Lisa would not want to be a part of it.”
Lisa’s own father, Dale, does little to intervene on his child’s behalf, leaving Janet to exert her domineering influence at every turn. “Dale is such a checked-out dad,” producer Mason Novick says. “Diablo writes a lot of dad characters who are just oblivious to what’s going on. I don’t want to say men in Diablo’s scripts are knuckleheads, but the focus of the conversations are on women. The father is around, and he’s really funny, but he’s not the one moving the story forward. He is very much the passive husband.”
Michael is Lisa’s crush whom she describes as an “intellectual punk dreamboat.” Although he initially seems to display an odd kind of fascination with Lisa, he doesn’t necessarily harbor romantic feelings toward her. “He’s so clueless,” says Eikenberry of his character.
Zelda Williams is the late Robin Williams’ daughter
Zelda Williams was named after the heroine of the classic Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda and is the daughter of the late Robin Williams and her part-Filipino mom, Marsha Garces Williams. With the hopes of following his footsteps, her acting career began at the age of 5 and was fascinated by her father’s career at a young age.
Her enthusiasm for the film was rooted in her deep admiration for Diablo Cody’s singular voice as a screenwriter, especially when it comes to the characters in her stories.
“The thing I enjoy most about her writing is the personality infused into all of it,” says Williams, who had auditioned for Juno (also written by Cody, for which she won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award) very early in her acting career. “It’s clear immediately who these characters are, whether they’re for you or not. That sort of strong flavor choice will always be my cup of tea.”
Get ready for the funniest, goriest undead horror romance you’ll see all year when “Lisa Frankenstein,” directed by Zelda Williams (daughter of the late Robin Williams and herself part-Filipina) and distributed by Universal Pictures International, opens in cinemas February 7, just in time for Valentine’s Day! #LisaFrankensteinPH
