EXCLUSIVE: WWE superstar Jade Cargill is set to make her acting debut starring opposite Jonathan Majors in True Threat, the Harlem-set action thriller from director Gerard McMurray (The First Purge, Burning Sands). The feature is being produced by Alexis Garcia’s CAT5 with Charlamagne Tha God, Basil Iwanyk (John Wick, Nobody), and Karen Kinney’s new banner, Southland Stories.
Southland Stories focuses on authentic and often underrepresented voices, and True Threat will be the company’s first feature project.
Cargill is the second actor attached to the film following Majors, whose casting was announced by Deadline in March. Her addition marks a major step forward for the project, which is slated to begin production this fall.
True Threat follows Special Forces operative Vernon Threat (Majors), who returns home seeking justice after his teenage son is murdered by Harlem’s Apollo Kids gang. Threat infiltrates The Carter, a twenty-story project building controlled by the gang, and fights his way floor by floor and boss by boss toward a confrontation with its leader and his former mentor, Shallow.
Cargill will play Meeka, a key lieutenant in the Apollo Kids and one of the film’s central antagonists. Meeka controls the building’s red light district and operates as a power broker inside The Carter. The role will showcase Cargill in an intense, physical, and highly stylized performance space that builds on her athletic background.
Cargill joins the project following a breakout performance at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. Since signing with WWE, she has rapidly emerged as one of the company’s most visible new stars.
“I am excited to have Jade join us on True Threat,” McMurray shared in a statement to Deadline. “She is a unique talent with a rare blend of athleticism, charisma, and control on camera. The role of Meeka requires presence and precision, and Jade brings both. I believe audiences will see a completely new side of her in this film.”
The producing team added, “Our mission here is to champion new faces and new voices in action storytelling. Jade is exactly the type of dynamic talent we want to introduce to the global film audience. She is already a force in the sports and entertainment world, and we believe this is just the beginning for her on the big screen.”
McMurray penned the script with Hodge K. Johnson, with action design by Larnell Stovall (The Continental). It will prominently feature 52 Blocks, a Black American martial arts style that is being brought to the screen in a major way for the first time. True Threat is the second film from CAT5, following David Ayer’s A Working Man, starring Jason Statham, which opened #1 at the U.S. box office in March.
Cargill holds a master’s degree in child psychology and is co-owner of the Atlanta Smoke women’s professional fastpitch team. She is represented by Paradigm.
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