The actress talks to ET about her new film premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Making its world premiere on Saturday, April 27 at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, Buffaloed is a new comedy starring Zoey Deutch as Peg, a young woman who attempts one financial scheme after another until she falls into the underworld of debt collecting. Soon she finds herself taking on an ethically challenged boss (Jai Courtney) in order to be free of obligation to anyone but herself.
Because Peg grew up in a family living paycheck to paycheck, Deutch says she loved the arc she has in the film, going from being chased down by debt collectors who were destroying her life to her own worst enemy. "To become what you never in a million years ever wanted to become and coming out on the other side of that is a complex journey," the actress tells ET.
While Deutch, whose parents are actress Lea Thompson and director Howard Deutch, has been carving out a place of her own in Hollywood with roles in Before I Fall, Everybody Wants Some!!, Why Him? and The Year of Spectacular Men, the role of Peg is one of those fun, star-making turns that will be hard for people not to pay attention to.
Of course, the actress is certainly on the rise thanks to the surprise Netflix hit Set It Up, which reunited her with friend and actor Glen Powell in the streaming platform's resurgence of romantic comedies. The film, which has a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, saw the two playing assistants who slowly fall in love while trying to set their horrible bosses up together.
There could a sequel on the horizon but Deutch remains excitedly mum on the topic. Unwilling to confirm anything outright, she gushes about Powell. "I adore him so much," she says, before adding: "Stay tuned! That’s all it got."
No stranger to the Tribeca Film Festival, Deutch was here two years ago to promote Flower, another strong showcase of the actress' charisma and rising star power. Soon after the premiere, she met Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt, when she had to audition for a film he was in. While she didn’t get the part, the two stayed in touch and Platt was the first person Deutch called after receiving the script for the pilot for The Politician.
"There was so little information about it and I didn't really understand it," she recalls of the secrecy surrounding Ryan Murphy’s new scripted series for Netflix, which stars Platt as an eager high school teenager with presidential ambitions and is set to premiere in September. The star-studded cast also includes Bette Midler, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Lange and Judith Light.
Once Platt gave her the lowdown on everything about the part, Deutch dropped everything to audition for Murphy. "I begged Ryan to see me," she says. Soon after, she got the role in what she describes as "an awesome show. It's unlike anything I've ever seen."
Speaking with ET about the show, Platt revealed that he had a hand in casting many of his young co-stars -- actors he wanted to work with -- including Deutch and Lucy Boynton. "The fact that they’re in this is amazing to me," he said.
The TV series is one of a few upcoming high-profile projects for the actress, who is also in the Zombieland sequel, Double Tap, alongside original stars Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin and The Professor with Johnny Depp.
"I'm so grateful to Ben for helping me out," Deutch says of The Politician. "I feel super excited to be a part of it."
All showtimes and ticket information can be found here. Check back for ET's ongoing coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival, running April 24 to May 5.
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