Just a few weeks after it was announced that Judith Light – best known for her roles on the shows Who’s the Boss? and Transparent – has joined the cast of the horror comedy series Shining Vale, the veteran actress has signed on to appear in another genre project, this one the darkly comedic psychological thriller The Menu. Also added to The Menu is Aimee Carrero, best known for voicing Disney’s first Latina princess in the animated series Elena of Avalor and providing the voice of She-Ra in the Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
In The Menu, Light and Carrero will be sharing the screen with previously announced cast members Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), Hong Chau (Downsizing), Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds), John Leguizamo (George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead), and Ralph Fiennes (Spectre).
Directed by Mark Mylod (Ali G Indahouse) from a screenplay by Will Tracy (Last Week with John Oliver) and Seth Reiss (Late Night with Seth Meyers), the film is set
in the world of eccentric culinary culture, centering on a young couple who visit an exclusive restaurant on a remote island where an acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, with some shocking surprises.
Fiennes is playing the “globally-celebrated chef” who has developed this “eccentric culinary event” and “has added a few secret, and potentially nefarious, ingredients to his extravagant menu.” Taylor-Joy is playing one half of the “young couple” mentioned in the synopsis, but the roles played by Hoult, Chau, and Leguizamo have not been confirmed. McTeer’s character is a food critic.
Details on the roles Light and Carrero will be playing were not revealed.
Set up at Searchlight, The Menu is being produced by Adam McKay and Betsy Koch through their company Hyperobject Industries. Searchlight’s SVP Production DanTram Nguyen and director of production Zahra Phillips are overseeing the project for the studio.
The Menu was once going to be directed by Alexander Payne, with Emma Stone in the lead role. They both had to leave the project due to scheduling issues.