Rising star Alex Sharp has only good things to say about “Nasty Women” — as in the upcoming female-fronted remake of the Steve Martin and Michael Caine comedy hit, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”
“It’s been completely rewritten,” says Sharp, sitting front-row at the Hellessy runway show during New York Fashion Week Friday. The British actor stars in the film alongside Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, the down-and-out con artists.
Hathaway and Wilson play the Martin and Caine roles, and Sharp plays the rube, a victim to their scheming, originally played by Glenne Headly in the 1988 film. Even the new title, which Sharp says was inspired by Donald Trump’s now-infamous reference to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, is still being reconsidered. (He’s suggested alternatives to producers, “but I don’t think I can say what until they make their decision.”)
Sharp says this new version will stand out for “more than just flip flipping genders.”
“It’s Rebel and Anne, who are so talented and each bring a different energy to the roles,” he says.
“Nasty — for now” will likely be a breakout film moment for Sharp, best known for his Tony-winning performance in the Broadway smash “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” He said the cast spent over a month and a half filming in London and Mallorca. Gee, tough gig.
“Brutal,” he says, laughing.
“I’ve never done a straight-up comedy,” he adds. “And those two — Rebel is known for her comedy skills but Anne is so funny, too. We had so much fun, to the point where we were almost worried we were getting unprofessional — we were corpsing in scenes all the time,” he says, using the term for when actors crack each other up.
The film is slated for release this August.
