However big the overlapping part is in the Venn diagram of WWE fans and arthouse cinema buffs, I know I’m not alone in it. I got my latest reminder when Liv Morgan was cast in Takashi Miike’s Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, and dozens of you commented.
Miike’s entry into the Bad Lieutenant series is scheduled for a debut at TIFF (the Toronto International Film Fesitval) this week or next, and in Japan on Oct. 23. But while I and my fellow non-squeamish nerd-crossover pals anxiously await our chance to see
what the man who gave us Ichi The Killer has the reigning and occasionally-defending Women’s World champion doing (other than licking and killing) as the Speaker of the House’s wayward daughter in his new film (see above)…
…Morgan’s already been hard at work on her next movie. It’s a project Liv teased on her Instagram last month.
PING
Today (Sept. 9), Deadline gave us more information about said project, a film that is in fact titled Ping. The star of Ping appears in the pics Morgan posted, and if you saw Obsession, you probably recognized her as one of that nasty little flick*’s few actors: Megan Lawless, who played Andy Richter’s aspiring tattoo artist daughter in this spring’s sleeper blockbuster. Here’s how Deadline wrote up the rest the names it was reporting for Ping.
Lawless is joined in the cast by Fivel Stewart (The Recruit), creator Savanah Moss, WWE star Liv Morgan (Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo) and Carter Jenkins (After).
The logline for writer/director Richie Gordon’s feature debut is “an aspiring creative director who lands a remote dream job, but is forced to choose between her sanity and a boss she can never mute.” Ping will also be debuting at TIFF, so Liv is likely spending a few days in Toronto this month. Gordon’s film is hoping to be picked up by a distributor at the festival, and he made his pitch to Deadline:
“Ping examines the promises of modern work that can push us to work harder and longer, sometimes at the expense of ourselves – it asks those of us living through burnout culture: what is enough? I was blown away by how deeply that resonated with Megan and the rest of the cast, and am incredibly fortunate to have some of the best crew in the business to bring it to life. I’m in awe of the talent behind this film and I can’t wait for the world to see it.”
Certainly sounds timely, and I continue to be even more excited about Morgan’s prospects in Hollywood than anyone else currently on the WWE roster… and maybe even more than her in-ring future.
Let us know where you are with either or both of Liv Morgan’s careers in the comments below.
* This is a compliment. I dug the **** out of Obsession.
