In a year full of breakthrough performances, one actor who is getting a little lost in the periphery is Suzanna Son. The singer and actress landed her film debut in Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket.” In fact, Baker first spotted Son at the now-closed Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. And like much of his unorthodox casting, “The Florida Project” auteur knew he’d want to put her in one of his films at some point.
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“She had that thing, that presence,” Baker recalls. “And I walked over to her and said, ‘You know, we street cast for our films. We don’t have anything going on right now, but let’s exchange information and maybe down the line we can work together.’ And I went home that night and I found out that Suzanna already had an Instagram presence. And the reason she was in Hollywood was that she was an aspiring actor. So, I was like, ‘O.K., this isn’t just a, you know, a civilian from outside the industry that I’m trying to get into it. She’s already wanting to do this.”
It took two years for Son to hear back from Baker when he decided he wanted to consider her for the role of Strawberry, a teenage girl who believes a former porn star, Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), is her ticket out of podunk East Texas and potential stardom in Los Angeles. Baker says he told everyone involved in the production, “I’m like, well, I already have Strawberry worked out. It’s Suzanna Son, who we met at the movie theater two years ago.” When he finally reached out to her, she replied, “I’ve been waiting two years for your call.”
One of the film’s unexpected audio cues is *NSYNC’s 2000 hit single, “Bye Bye Bye.” Son, who is also a singer, recorded her own version of the track which was officially released on streaming services today. You can listen to it on Spotify or in the YouTube version embedded in this post. It’s a melancholy interpretation that makes you hope Son’s music career also gets a boost from what should be the start of a burgeoning acting career.
“Red Rocket” opens in limited release on Friday.