Summary
Odessa A’zion and Emily Bader are sisters who find themselves on diverging paths inFresh Kills. Having made her acting debut in 2011, A’zion, daughter of iconic comedian Pamela Adlon, recently found success with her leading roles inHulu’sHellraiserrebootand Prime Video’sSitting in Bars with Cake, as well as a recurring role in CBS' hit American adaptation ofGhosts. Bader is similarly starting to gain ground in leading roles, having led the cast of Paramount+‘sParanormal Activity: Next of Kin, and serving as the lead of her and A’zion’s crime thriller.
Fresh Killsstars Bader and A’zion as Rose and Connie Larusso, the daughters of Brooklyn mafia boss, Joe Larusso. Throughout their lives, the duo have struggled to process the nature of their lives, with their mother, Francine, frequently criticizing their father’s lifestyle, particularly when he’s sent to jail when the sisters are still teenagers. As they grow up and find themselves coming to terms with the mafia shadow hanging over their family’s heads, Rose and Connie will see their sisterhood pushed to the brink as they have to decide whether they want to stay in this world, or escape it.
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Alongside A’zion and Bader, the ensembleFresh Killscast includesBlue Bloods' Jennifer Esposito,Tulsa King’s Domenick Lombardozzi, Annabella Sciorra, Nicholas Cirillo, Stelio Savante and Franco Maicas. In addition to starring in it, the mafia drama serves as Esposito’s directorial debut, with a script she wrote inspired by her own childhood growing up in Staten Island and her experiences with some of the women who held numerous parallels to Rose and Connie.
Ahead of the movie’s wide release,Screen Rantinterviewed Odessa A’zion and Emily Bader to discussFresh Kills, how easy it was to build a sisterly bond between them, how the movie explores the unique intricacies of any sibling bond, and A’zion’s potential return for the in-developmentHellraiser 2.
Building A Rapport Was “Easy” For A’zion & Bader
With their characters' relationship as much the crux of the movie’s plot as Rose’s desire to break free from the mafia world, building a believable chemistry between A’zion and Bader was an important step, but luckily for them, they found it “easy”. Bader, in particular, praised A’zion for being a meaningful screen partner in which she could “lean on” as she tackled one of her first major lead roles:
Odessa A’zion: Easy. Easy with this one. We instantly got along and enjoyed each other’s company. Which is funny, because we’re not really supposed to do that much in the movie. But also, I’ve got sisters, there’s always love for one another, even when I told my sister that I didn’t like her before. I still liked her. [Chuckles]
Emily Bader: Like she said, it’s just really easy, and it was really amazing to have her to lean on in the filming of this, as well. This is the first time I’ve done a movie like this.
Odessa A’zion: And she murdered it!
Emily Bader: But it’s that sister thing, like you [Odessa] said, because I also have a sister, and it’s like you hate each other half the time, but also, you have that fierce protectiveness for one another. It’s like, “I can talk bad about you, but if anyone else does, I’ll literally kill them.” Yeah. And I think we have the type of friendship that we really care about each other. So, it was just really, really fun to get to go to work every day.
Rose Is Really Looking To “Break Out Of This Vise” Of Her Family & The Mafia
Unlike her sister in the film, Rose finds herself constantly looking to put distance between the mafia connections her family holds and forge a new life outside of Staten Island. In reflecting on her character’s arc, Bader found some emotional parallels between Rose and herself, in which “you have a life that’s expected of you”, and describes wanting to keep the feeling of “suffocation” as the character’s throughline across the movie’s multiple time jumps:
Emily Bader: I think what she starts to quickly realize is that she has no choice, and I think that’s something that a lot of young women and I have felt in my life, where you feel like you have a life that’s expected of you, and the lack of choice becomes kind of suffocating. So, I think that suffocation was definitely what I wanted to keep at the heart of what she was experiencing. It always feels like the walls and the people are caving in on her, and she can’t breathe, which manifests in her anxiety, and hypochondria, and all those things, because it’s really just the need to break out of this vise that her family has around her.
Connie Is “A Little Golden Retriever” With Her Fierce Loyalty To Her Family
Connie, on the other hand, readily embraces who her father is and how he’s provided for his family throughout the years, with A’zion describing her as “a little golden retriever” with just how loyal she is to her family, and especially her father:
Odessa A’zion: I think that she’s just really, stereotypically obsessed with her family and her father and the idea that he could do no harm, and he’s never wrong, and their family’s never wrong, and you do what’s right for the family. Just very mob mentality, like being like a mob boss’s daughter, you know? Like, “That’s my f—-ng Dad. Don’t talk s–t about my dad. That’s my dad.” And, “He didn’t kill your dad. Your dad committed suicide, what are you talking about? Girl, what evidence?”
Like when you [Emily] come in after Lily got into our f—-ng bakery, I’m like, “What was she doing there? What did Alli bring in the bakery?” “No. Alli did not bring it in the bakery. We know who brought it in the bakery.” But Connie doesn’t want to believe that, but she’s very loyal. She’s a little golden retriever to the family. She’s exactly what I think Joe Larusso wanted from a little loyal daughter.
A’zion Is Open To A Hellraiser 2 Return (But Will “Get In So Much Trouble” If She Says Too Much)
In looking to the future, A’zion was asked about her potential return for asequel to theHellraiserreboot, which producer Keith Levine revealed was in the early stages of development as of March 2024. After humorously admitting she will “get in so much trouble” if she shares too much about what she’s heard, the star confirmed there have been talks “here and there” about bringing her back for a follow-up, though says nothing official has been established yet:
Odessa A’zion: Oh god, I’m gonna get in so much trouble if I talk about anything. [Laughs] I’ve heard things here and there, nothing ever official, and I don’t think it’s ever gonna be official. But, also, you never know. You never know.
AboutFresh Kills
Late 1980s - Meet the Larusso family: Joe, the loving father and up-and-coming mafia kingpin; Francine, the lovingly flawed wife and mother; Connie, the son Joe never had; and Rose, an inquisitive, withdrawn young girl. New to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn and looking to make a better life, we follow Rose, the youngest daughter, as she reluctantly discovers who her father is, her place within this family and the world around her. Her eventual desire to break free from the life set before her not only threatens her existence but makes enemies out of her closest allies: her mother and sister. Like every mob movie you’ve never seen before, this is the story of the women of this life. The fear, violence and rage that dictates who they are and who they become. A search for freedom within a world they may never leave.
