Teyana Taylor might have teased a potential return to music as recently as a month ago but it looks like movies remain her primary focus. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she recently secured a new role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s as-yet-untitled new movie along with pop-punk-singer-turned-Thomas-muse Alana Haim, who made her film debut in Thomas’ 2021 film Licorice Pizza.
Wood Harris, Shayna McHayle, and young Broadway actor Chase Infiniti were also added to the cast, which already included Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Regina Hall. Licorice Pizza co-producers Sara Murphy and Adam Somner are again co-producing here along with Thomas, who also wrote the script.
Taylor’s other recent films include Hulu’s White Men Can’t Jump remake with Jack Harlow and the crticially acclaimed A Thousand And One, which holds a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 85% audience score. It looks like she’s certainly receiving the recognition in acting that she felt she wasn’t getting in music, which is both heartening (yay for recognition) and disappointing (she should have been praised before this).
Meanwhile, Alana and her sisters spent most of last year enjoying their leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. Unfortunately, Haim has also had to face an unfair share of musical criticism, repeatedly refuting misogynistic claims that they don’t play their instruments live. Fortunately, no one can say Alana isn’t acting for herself when she appears in the film, which is already in production.
