Rachel True, one of the stars of the teenage witch movie and 1996 cult classic “The Craft,” has landed the lead role in new supernatural thriller, “The Last Call.”
Variety has learned exclusively that True will be starring in the upcoming feature, alongside Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison and Emmy winner Keith David. The film begins shooting on Aug. 9 in Morristown, N.J., with planned shoots also in Los Angeles, Calif.
“The Last Call” follows Dr. Amara Rowen, a documentary filmmaker who, after what appears to be a cult mass suicide, is contacted by the group’s survivors. As she begins to learn the truth of the cult’s founder and its abilities, she and the surviving members are being hunted and killed, which could lead to a changing reality.
Playing Dr. Rowen, True was best known for her role as Rochelle Zimmerman in the 1996 horror film “The Craft,” which co-starred Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Robin Tunney as four teenage outcasts who begin to practice witchcraft. She got her start with guest roles in hit television series such as “The Cosby Show” and “Hanging with Mr. Cooper,” before playing the rapper-hating girlfriend of Chris Rock in “CB4” and the anti-marijuana love interest in the Dave Chappelle stoner comedy “Half Baked.” She recently released a personal tarot deck and guidebook, “True Heart Intuitive Tarot.”
Davison will be portraying the cult’s founder, Dr. Joseph Cawl. He’s best known for his roles in the “X-Men” franchise as Sen. Robert Kelly and his performance as David, a gay man living with AIDS in Norman René’s 1989 drama “Longtime Companion,” for which he received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for supporting actor.
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No stranger to the genre, David will be playing Dr. Leonard Betram, a former colleague of the cult founder who believes he’s evil with a more sinister plan to come. Well known for roles in horror classics such as “The Thing,” “They Live” and “Pitch Black,” cinephiles may remember him best as Big Tim, the pimp to Jennifer Connelly’s character in Darren Aronofsky’s dour but brilliant “Requiem for a Dream.” An acclaimed and respected actor, he’s won three Primetime Emmy Awards throughout his career, most recently for outstanding narrator for the 2016 docuseries “Jackie Robinson” and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1992 for featured actor in a musical in George C. Wolfe’s “Jelly’s Last Jam.”
As of late, New Jersey has become a new and exciting filming hub for the moviemaking industry, both for studio and independent projects. Upcoming films such as Halle Berry’s directorial debut “Bruised” and Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story” all filmed in locations across the Garden State, including Atlantic City, Newark and Paterson. In addition, recent Oscar-winning and nominated movies such as Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” have also been shot there.
“The Last Call” is directed by Mike Sargent and written by Mike Kuciak. The feature is produced by Michael Alden, Ian Holt and Kuciak of Alt House Productions, in partnership with PFG Films. Some of the artisans of the film include Oscar-winning sound designer Cecelia Hall (“The Hunt for Red October”) and Emmy nominee and special effects makeup artist Vincent J. Guastini (“Saturday Night Live”). Hall received the career achievement award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors Guild in 2020.
