It’s time to get ready for drama, drama, and more drama. That’s what the trailer for the upcoming HBO limited series Irma Vep has to offer – but, of course, in the best way possible. The movie-within-the-series setting centers around a frustrated actress who goes to France in order to star in a remake of the French film Les Vampires. The problem is, the shooting is an emotional experience that pushes her to the very limits of her craft and blurs the line between reality and fiction. The series debuts in early June.
The trailer reveals that the story is all about Mira (Alicia Vikander), a world-famous actor who’s fed up with starring in blockbusters that offer her no acting challenge. Mira hopes for a change after signing on to embody the title character, which is "the part she’s been dying to play." Mira will also don a catsuit that’s familiar to the original 1996 Irma Vep movie starring Maggie Cheung – we’ll talk about that last bit in a minute.
The trailer also reveals that a major “antagonist” to Mira will be René Vidal (Vincent Macaigne), the director of Irma Vep who bluntly states to the lead actress that he’s never happy. And that possibly translates to the acclaimed director wreaking havoc on the set, throwing tantrums, physically attacking actors and extras, and doing it all in the name of Art. That should be fun to watch.
Not revealed by the trailer is Academy Award nominee and former Twilight Saga star Kristen Stewart, who has boarded the project in a reportedly small role. Given that this is a teaser trailer, however, there’s a chance we get a deeper look at the story and other characters in another trailer in the coming weeks.
The limited series also features Adria Arjona, Jerrod Carmichael, Carrie Brownstein, Fala Chen, Devon Ross Jeanne Balibar, Lars Eidinger, Vincent Lacoste, Hippolyte Girardot, Alex Descas, Nora Hamzawi, and Antoine Reinartz.
Irma Vep is a confusing project by design: Director Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria) is revisiting his own project that he wrote and directed in the late 90s. So, the limited series is the story of the remake of a movie that is also a remake of a movie. If you know Assayas, then you won’t be too surprised because this is exactly the kind of narrative that the acclaimed filmmaker loves to explore.
HBO premieres Irma Vep on June 6. You’ll also be able to stream it on HBO Max.
You can watch the trailer below: