Shubhabrata Dutta
Nick Sandow, who is best known for playing Joe Caputo in ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ is all set to return to the director’s chair with ‘The Florist.’ The movie will begin filming in Philadelphia in the late summer. The cast of the project is headlined by Carla Gugino.
The biographical film revolves around Hollywood screen legend Vivien Leigh (Gugino), who struggles with bipolar disorder in the 1960s as she prepares to lead the Broadway production of John Gielgud’s Chekhov adaptation of ‘Ivanov.’ Leigh’s paths cross with Joseph Penn — a WWII veteran and blue-collar florist who encounters the actress on a delivery. At the same time, the star attends a local psychiatric facility for electroconvulsive therapy. Amid the backdrop of madness, Leigh and Penn become each other’s sources of truth, beauty, and love.
Sandow is the director of the 2015 crime drama ‘The Wannabe.’ He also wrote the movie and appeared in the same as a cast member. The film, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, stars Vincent Piazza and Patricia Arquette. As a director, Sandow directed an episode of Lifetime’s comedy series ‘American Princess,’ Netflix’s teen series ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters,’ and Netflix’s anthology series ‘Social Distance,’ in addition to helming five episodes of ‘Orange Is the New Black.’ His credits as an actor include Murray Clarke in ‘Clarice,’ Ron in ‘Stella’s Last Weekend,’ Waxey Gordon in ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Lt. Alex Bello in ‘Blue Bloods,’ Father Dan in ‘How to Make It in America,’ Joe Lombardo in ‘Third Watch,’ etc.
Gugino played Grace Gordon Greene in Max’s ‘The Girls on the Bus‘ and Janet in Zelda Williams’ horror romance ‘Lisa Frankenstein.’ She lent her voice to Orion’s mom in Netflix’s ‘Orion and the Dark.’ Her credits extend to popular projects such as the horror series ‘The Fall of the House of Usher‘ and the crime thriller ‘Leopard Skin.’
Jayce Bartok, who wrote Kristen Stewart-starrer ‘The Cake Eaters,’ penned the screenplay of ‘The Florist.’ Jayce, Tiffany Bartok, Jenna Mack, and Lauren Hale Rieckhoff are producing the project.
Philadelphia continues to host the filming of several popular projects, including ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘ and ‘Abbott Elementary.’
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