Natalie Morales to Star in the Dark Dramedy “My Dead Friend Zoe”

Natalie Morales is making a new (dead) friend

The 38-year-old Cuban American actress will star opposite Ed Harris and Sonequa Martin-Green in My Dead Friend Zoe, a dark dramedy about two generations of veterans, family and friendship.

Natalie MoralesKyle Hausmann-Stokes will direct the project in what will be his feature debut.

Written by Hausmann-Stokes and A.J. Bermudez, the film tells the story of a female veteran (Martin-Green) engaged in a mysterious but comfortable friendship with her wise-cracking (and dead) best friend from the Army (Morales). When the vet is summoned to the remote lake house of her estranged Vietnam vet grandfather (Harris), she is tasked with providing the one thing he refuses…help.

The film is based on Merit x Zoe, a short that Hausmann-Stokes co-wrote and directed last year, and both films draw inspiration from his real-life experiences during and after the military. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Hausmann-Stokes served five years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and convoy commander and was awarded the Bronze Star while in Iraq. He co-founded the nonprofit Veterans in Media & Entertainment, and has focused his directing career thus far on the social and human sides of the military and veteran experience.

“My fellow veterans and I often get reduced to archetypes and melodramatic tropes. We’re much more dynamic, funny, complex than that,” said Hausmann-Stokes. “This will be a story about veterans we haven’t seen before; one that anyone, military/veteran or not, can relate to and enjoy.”

A Gotham Award nominee who’ll next be seen in the third season of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and Sony’s R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings, Morales has previously appeared in such studio features as StuberThe Little Things and Battle of the Sexes, as well as well-regarded indies like Language Lessons and I’m Totally Fine.

She led the NBC sitcom Abby’s and has also been seen on series like Dead to MeSanta Clarita DietThe GrinderParks and Recreation and White Collar.

Other upcoming projects for the actress include two films out of SXSW 2023: the sci-fi romance If You Were the Last with Anthony Mackie, and actor Jake Johnson’s feature directorial debut, Self Reliance.

Natalie Morales to Make Solo Feature Directorial Debut with “Plan B”

Natalie Morales is heading behind the camera…

The 35-year-old Cuban American actress, who most recently starred in the second season of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Dead to Me, will make her solo feature directorial debut with Plan B, a Counterbalance Entertainment and American High comedy that’s set up at Hulu.

Natalie Morales

Set to begin production next month in Syracuse, NY, the film follows a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend who, after a regrettable first sexual encounter, have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America’s heartland.

Prathi Srinivasan and Joshua Levy penned the screenplay.

Morales has directed and starred in multiple episodes of HBO’s Room 104 from creators Jay and Mark Duplass. On the big screen, her recent credits include Fox’s Stuber with Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Warner Bros.forthcoming The Little Things drama with Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Rami Malek.

Natalie Morales to Star in Warner Bros. “The Little Things”

Natalie Morales is celebrating the little things…

The 34-year-old Cuban American actress has joined the cast of Warner Bros.The Little Things opposite Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Rami Malek.

Natalie Morales

The film follows Deke (Washington), a burned-out Kern County, CA. deputy sheriff who teams with Baxter (Malek), a crack LASD detective, to nab a serial killer. Deke’s nose for the “little things” proves eerily accurate, but his willingness to circumvent the rules embroils Baxter in a soul-shattering dilemma. Meanwhile, Deke must wrestle with a dark secret from his past. Jared Letois in talks to join in the role as the serial killer in the project from writer-director John Lee Hancock.

Morales will play a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department detective working for Baxter.

She most recently starred on NBC’s Abby’s sitcom. The Parks and Recreation alum also starred in Fox’s Stuber alongside Kumail Nanjiani. She also appeared in Fox Searchlight’s Golden Globe-nominated Battle of the Sexes opposite Emma Stoneand Steve Carell. Morales was a regular on Fox’s The Grinder. She also recently directed her second episode of Room 104 for HBO.