Click here to read the full article.
Comedy veterans Colin Mochrie (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) and Andrea Martin (“Evil,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) have boarded “Any Way You Want Me,” joining Callan Potter (“Heated Rivalry”), Cobie Smulders and Iris
Apatow in Rana Strazza’s romantic drama, which is now shooting in Toronto.
Strazza writes and directs the film, which takes place in 1950s New England and is designed to play like a picture from that period. Fina Strazza stars as Billie Blake, who comes back to her hometown after her mother comes into a dress shop through an inheritance. Next door is a diner run by Calvin Wilkes (Brian Altemus), her boyfriend from high school. Thrown together with him again, Billie has to confront the honesty and the deception that brought their relationship to an end.
Smulders’ credits include “Shrinking,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Lincoln Lawyer” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Apatow appears in Alexandra Pechman’s Toronto title “Magazine” and has “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” on the way. Altemus is known for “Brilliant Minds” and Harlan Coben’s “Shelter.”
In keeping with the classic Hollywood pictures it draws on, the film has assembled a cast steeped in stage as well as screen work. Martin, a Broadway veteran, has won two Tony Awards from four nominations. She is also an alum of “SCTV” and has worked opposite Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and John Candy. Mochrie likewise came up through theater before improv made him an international name.
Fina Strazza made her Broadway debut at eight, playing the title role in “Matilda.” In 2025 she landed a Tony nomination for best performance by a featured actress in a play for “John Proctor Is the Villain,” in which she appeared with Sadie Sink. Smulders won the 2017 Theatre World Award for her debut performance in Noël Coward’s “Present Laughter,” opposite Kevin Kline.
“It’s great to get a chance to return to my stage roots with the pathos of this film, which started when I studied at Studio 58 in Vancouver, and of course at Second City,” Mochrie said. “Improv and theater are closely related, and there’s something incredibly exciting about bringing that experience into Rana’s world. I’m thrilled to be working with Andrea, Fina, and the rest of this wonderful cast.”
Marium Carvell, Rebecca Ablack, Jennifer Hui, Michaela McGowan, Robert Fulton and Joseph Daly complete the ensemble.
First Magnitude Films and Stagg Forrest Films are producing. The shoot is set to wrap in mid-October.
Fina Strazza is repped by Paradigm, Mara Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Smulders is repped by UTA and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman. Altemus is repped by Innovative Artists and Linden Entertainment. Potter is repped by The Talent House and David Dean Management. Apatow is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham LLP. Mochrie is repped by The Characters, and Martin by Play Management and Gary Gersh at Innovative.
