Dakota Johnson is stepping behind the camera for her next project to make her directorial debut on the film, A Tree Is Blue.
What’s more, pop icon Charli XCX and Jessica Alba are reportedly in talks for lead roles in the drama.
According to The Wrap, Johnson is set to direct A Tree Is Blue under her own production company, TeaTime Pictures, which she co-founded in 2019 to champion “fresh, female-driven stories.”
The film, written by Vanessa Burghardt who starred alongside Johnson in Cha Cha Real Smooth, centres on a young woman on the autism spectrum who, after graduating high school, sets out to break free from her overprotective mother in search of independence and identity.
Burghardt, who is autistic herself, brings lived experience to the script, promising a narrative told with care rather than cliché.
While the official cast is yet to be confirmed, Deadline confirmed that Charli XCX is “in talks” to star, so too is Jessica Alba.
It will mark the latest in a string of acting projects for the Brat pop icon as she continues to prove herself a multi-hyphenate talent, including I Want Your Sex, Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, A24 film Mother Mary and Overcompensating.
For those who have been paying close attention, Johnson previously hinted at the project during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
“I think I will direct a feature, a very small one, hopefully soon,” she shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
“And it’s really close to my heart and very close to TeaTime [her production company]. We’re making it with Vanessa Burghardt, who played my daughter in Cha Cha Real Smooth. She’s an incredible autistic actress.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
