‘MaXXXine’ First Look: Mia Goth Walks the City of Dreams in Ti West’s ‘X’ Sequel
Maxine is ready for her close-up.
Star Mia Goth reprises the role of ingenue adult film actress turned final girl Maxine for “MaXXXine,” the final installment in Ti West’s trilogy, which already includes “X” and “Pearl.” In West’s latest film, we’re sent into the decade after the events of “X,” which chronicled an adult film shoot gone wrong on a Southern farm. It’s now 1985, and Maxine has made her way to Los Angeles, where she’s looking to get famous.
Goth played a double role in “X” as both Maxine and the surprise older version of Pearl, the character expanded upon in the follow-up prequel film “Pearl,” hidden behind prosthetic old-age makeup and now owning the farm on which the “X” crew is shooting a porno. In the new “MaXXXine,” Maxine is now the only survivor of a massacre that flattened the entire “X” film shoot. Goth is joined by Halsey (pictured above), Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon.
“I saw them as the same woman in many ways,” Goth told IndieWire of her two characters in the franchise, which both similarly have or had dreams of stardom poisoned by murderous events. “They were just at different stages of their life. It was very important to me that she didn’t come across [as a villain]. I had a lot of sympathy toward Pearl [and Howard, played by Stephen Ure], and it was important that even in this world that they’re in — in a slasher film — they wouldn’t be presented as horror tropes or they’re seen as the monsters. That wouldn’t have been interesting for me to have played at all.”
Goth earned great acclaim for her Joan Crawford-inspired horror melodrama “Pearl” last fall, with many critics calling for the actress to receive a first-time Oscar nomination, which didn’t pan out.
Goth most recently starred in Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool” and announced she was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe after being cast in the repeatedly delayed “Blade” reboot at Disney now being directed by Yann Demange. Goth will star opposite Mahershala Ali.
A24 will release “MaXXXine,” which shot on location in Los Angeles, some time in 2024.
