Jackie Cruz is embracing a new history…
The 35-year-old Dominican-American actress, singer, former model and Orange is The New Black star is replacing Stephanie Beatriz as co-lead in the horror-thriller film History of Evil, which recently wrapped production.
Paul Wesley co-stars in the feature, which was pre-bought by AMC’s genre streamer Shudder for release in North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Beatriz reportedly had to switch out before the film’s early May start due to scheduling conflicts.
Written and directed by Iranian-American filmmaker Bo Mirhosseni, the film is being produced by genre specialists XYZ Films, Under the Shadow outfit Two & Two Pictures and Jake Siegel.
In History Of Evil, a family on the run from a corrupt state takes refuge in a safe house with an evil past — a terrifying last stop on a near-future Underground Railroad.
The film is the first project under a pact between XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures to make films from first- and second-time genre directors from under-represented demographics.
The pact is set to produce two to three pictures a year initially and was hatched as a result of XYZ Films partnering with Two & Two on Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow, which went on to win a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut. The companies most recently collaborated on Anvari’s third feature film, I Came By, which is currently in post-production for Netflix.
Cruz is best known for starring in Netflix’s hit series Orange Is The New Black. Her recent features include the Bruce Willis actioner Midnight In The Switchgrass and the thriller Panama with Mel Gibson and Cole Hauser.
