‘American Nails’: Willem Dafoe & Asia Argento To Star In Abel Ferrara’s ‘Gangster Movie

If there was ever a filmmaker who embodies a DGAF attitude, it’s undoubtedly Bronx-born filmmaker Abel Ferrara. Having moved to Italy years ago, the filmmaker seems to have totally abandoned Hollywood but keeps on trucking unbowed nonetheless, doing whatever the F he wants. While no one else would touch Shia LaBeouf after the allegations of his violent and emotionally toxic behavior against singer/actress and ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs (who launched a lawsuit against him during the tail end of #MeToo for abusive behavior), Ferrara didn’t really care and was happy to cast the actor in his last film, “Padre Pio.” And for his next movie, Ferrara will reunite with Asia Argento and Willem Dafoe, the stars of his 1998 erotic science fiction drama film, “New Rose Hotel,” co-starring Christopher Walken.

READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of Abel Ferrara

According to the producers, the film is a modern gangster story inspired by an ancient tragedy and is titled “American Nails.” The film documents the “rise and fall of this modern Phaedra in a tale set in the gangster world of primal violence, power, and revenge. This no-holds-barred retelling of Euripides’ masterpiece pits Argento against the male-dominated remnants of power and entitlement in contemporary Italy.”

Dafoe starring in the film isn’t much of a surprise; he’s seemingly in Ferrara’s every other movie these days, and “American Nails” will mark their eighth collaboration together. Some of their most recent collaborations include the 2014 biopic “Pasolini,” the 2019 Cannes Film Festival selection “Tommaso,” and “Siberia,” which premiered at the 2020 Berlinale. The two are close friends and are generally not far from view from one another.

READ MORE: Abel Ferrara Talks Shia LaBeouf Playing A ‘Padre Pio’ Saint, Sobriety, & Working On A New Ukraine War Doc [Venice Interview]

Argento is also something of a persona-non-grata quality in the United States after various controversies over the years, but again, Ferrara doesn’t really care. Previous collaborations with Ferrara include “Go Go Tales” and the aforementioned “Padre Pio.” An actress, screenwriter, director, and musician, Argento, who is the daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento and actress/screenwriter Daria Nicolodi, Argento has worked consistently, but the height of her Hollywood days was arguably in the early aughts when she appeared in movies like “XXX” and “Marie Antoinette.”

While she alleged that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her during the #MeToo era, Argento was the subject of her own controversies when she was alleged to have sexually assaulted actor Jimmy Bennett during the making of her 2004 film, “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.” She denied all charges, but it didn’t help her reputation as something of an unpredictable wild card, perhaps too hot button topic for Hollywood casting. [Variety]