Ed Harris (Top Gun: Maverick, Westworld), Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery), and Natalie Morales (Parks and Recreation, Girls) are entering the Friend Zone. My Dead Friend Zone, that is! The trio stars in a dark, new dramedy about veterans from two generations as they navigate family and friendship. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes directs from a script he wrote with A.J. Bermudez.
According to Deadline, the story focuses on 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 called to the remote lake house of her estranged Vietnam vet grandfather (Harris), she is tasked with providing the one thing he refuses…help.”
My Dead Friend Zone is based on a short Hausmann-Stokes co-wrote and directed in 2022, inspired by his time during and after serving in the military. Hausmann-Stokes served five years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and convoy commander and was awarded the Bronze Star in Iraq. After co-establishing the nonprofit Veterans in Media & Entertainment organization, he focused on creating stories depicting the social and human sides of being involved in a conflict.
“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 told Deadline about striving to represent veterans for who they are. “This will be a story about veterans we haven’t seen before; one that anyone, military/veteran or not, can relate to and enjoy.”
“We’re thrilled to have high caliber talents like Ed, Natalie and Sonequa join us in bringing Kyle’s unique and emotional story to life. Beyond the entertainment and commercial potential, we love that the film highlights veterans and female soldiers in a fresh way and delivers a strong social message about mental health and suicide,” said Stated Legion M’s Co-Founder and CEO Scanlan about spreading Hausmann-Stokes’ experienced point of view.
War changes people, and the effects of seeing conflict could last a lifetime. My Dead Friend Zone is a unique take on how emotional and mental scars shape who we are, acting as armor for what may come after the bullets, bombs, and sacrifice leave their mark.
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