What's Next for the Stars of Disney's 'Cruella'

The new Disney villain origin story, Cruella, arrives in theaters and on Disney+ on Friday, May 28th. The movie tells the backstory of famed Disney villainess, Cruella De Vil, from how she grew up to how she met her lifelong henchmen, The Badun Brothers, Jasper and Horace, and even the origin of her distaste for Dalmatians. The film stars Emma Stone as Cruella opposite the villainous Baroness played by Emma Thompson. Character actors Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser round out the main cast.

Naturally, the cast, and director Craig Gillespie, are currently busily promoting Cruella’s big debut, as this article is being written, but what are they doing next? Here’s a closer look at what’s next for the cast of Cruella…

Emma Stone has become one of the most sought after leading ladies in Hollywood but she is certainly cutting her own path as a leading lady. While Cruella is the kind of big starring role fitting of a superstar, Stone’s next project is anything but. Stone is set to star in the newest movie from the mind of Auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, the divisive director of The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and Stone’s Oscar winning performance in The Favourite.

The film, titled Poor Things, co-stars Stone with Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe. Stone plays Belle Baxter, a young woman who dies and is brought back to life by an eccentric scientist. We know that Ruffalo and Dafoe co-star in Poor Things, but which one is playing the eccentric scientist is yet to be announced. The film is currently in pre-production for a 2022 release. Poor Things is one of two 2022 projects for Emma Stone, the other being a television comedy called The Curse co-starring and co-created by Bennie Safdie and Nathan Fielder.

Emma Thompson has become a beloved multi-hyphenate in Hollywood. Whether writing, directing or starring, Thompson is always busy and always choosing interesting projects. In Cruella she takes on a villainous role with gusto as she butts heads with Emma Stone’s anti-hero Cruella. It’s a testament to Thompson’s talent that she can craft a character even more villainous than a character named Cruella.

For her next project, Thompson is once again working with her friends at Working Title Films, the production company behind Love, Actually. This time she will be alongside star Lily James in a cross-cultural romance called What’s Love Got to Do With It? It’s an Indian-British production directed by Shekhar Kapur, the director of Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. There is no announced release date yet. And, if that weren’t busy enough, Thompson is in pre-production on the newest adaptation of the kids book series Matilda in which she will portray Miss Trunchbull opposite newcomer Alisha Weir as Matilda. Matilda is set for Netflix next year.

It’s already been a busy 2021 for Joel Fry who is fast becoming a beloved character actor. Fry was the lovable weirdo in 2019’s Beatles comedy Yesterday but earlier in 2021 he was taking on a much different and much more serious role. Fry starred in the Ben Wheatley directed horror movie In the Earth. Now, in Cruella, he has the pivotal role of Jasper Badun, one half of the Badun Brothers who go on to become Cruella’s favored henchmen.

What’s next for Joel Fry? How about Jane Austen? Fry is signed on to co-star in the latest adaptation of Austen’s Persuasion. No, not the Netflix Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson that was just announced last month. That’s a modern day telling of the story. Fry is set to co-star with Sarah Snook from HBO’s Succession, in a period retelling of the story of Anne Elliott. Mahalia Belo, director of the television mini-series, The Love Song, is set to direct while Summerland writer-director Jessica Swale has adapted the screenplay. No release date has been determined yet as the film is still in pre-production.

Paul Walter Hauser rose to fame with his terrific turn in I, Tonya in 2017. He followed that up with an acclaimed lead performance in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. Now, he’s portraying Horace Badun in Cruella, one half of the famed Badun Brothers, opposite Joel Fry. Hauser’s adept physical comedy and timing have shown through in each of his acclaimed performances but equally as much in his smaller roles in BlackKKlansman and Da 5 Bloods. You don’t become a Spike Lee regular without earning it.

What’s next after Cruella? Hauser’s next role is in a comedy called Queenpins alongside Kristen Bell and Vince Vaughn. The film tells the story of the largest counterfeit coupon scam in American history. The film is also a reunion for Hauser and Cruella co-star Kirby Howell-Baptiste who also has a supporting role in Queenpins. The film was written and directed by the up and coming husband and wife duo of Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly who gained notoriety in 2013 with the release of Beneath the Harvest Sky.

Director Craig Gillespie is drawn to unusual people and unusual subjects. Prior to directing Cruella, Gillespie gained fame as the director of the wonderfully odd romantic comedy Lars and the Real Girl starring Ryan Gosling as a man who fell in love with a mannequin. After that, Gillespie struggled through more typically Hollywood fare such as the boring baseball movie Million Dollar Arm and the far better but still very mainstream, The Finest Hour starring Chris Pine. It wasn’t until 2017 when Gillespie returned to his weird side to adapt the life of reviled figure skater, Tonya Harding, that he regained his auteur cred. Gillespie directed Margot Robbie to an Academy Award winning performance in I, Tonya and the success of that movie put Gillespie in line to direct Cruella.

What’s next for Gillespie? A move to television for the foreseeable future. Gillespie’s next project is the television series, Physical starring Rose Byrne as a woman rising to the top of the aerobics industry. That show just debuted to some fanfare on Apple TV just as Gillespie was ramping up to promote Cruella. After Physical, Gillespie has a pair of mini-series in the works. Gillespie is working on Pam & Tommy, the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee miniseries at Hulu with Lily James and Sebastian Stan as the titular couple. Pam & Tommy is set to debut on Hulu in 2022. Gillespie will then stick with Hulu for another, even more controversial mini-series after Pam & Tommy. Iron Mike is a fully UN-authorized look at the life of boxing champion Mike Tyson. It’s being made without Tyson’s involvement for a debut next year.