Another Hollywood project is officially up and running in Pittsburgh.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth,” a movie from director Cooper Raiff starring Dakota Johnson, officially began filming in the Steel City Thursday, according to a report from Variety’s Matt Donnelly. The film is being produced by Picturestart, Endeavor Content and TeaTime Pictures.
“We are thrilled to begin production on this heartwarming, heartbreaking, heart-pumping and unique film of Cooper Raiff’s,” Erik Feig, founder of Picturestart, told Donnelly. “‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ is going to become a whole bunch of people’s favorite movie of all time pretty soon.”
The Pittsburgh Film Office confirmed in late July that “Cha Cha Real Smooth” would be setting up shop in Pittsburgh. Lawrenceville-based Mosser Casting has been looking for local extras and stand-ins for the film about a “directionless college grad embarking on a relationship with a young mom and her teenage daughter, all while learning the boundaries of his new gig as a bar mitzvah hype man.”
Raiff is also starring alongside Johnson, mostly known for her role in the “50 Shades of Grey” franchise. The Variety report also revealed more actors who will be joining the cast: Leslie Mann (“Knocked Up”), Brad Garrett (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) and Raul Castillo (“Looking”). Fun fact: Castillo once performed at the North Side’s New Hazlett Theater in the barebones productions play “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train.”
Rounding out the new cast members are Odeya Rush (“Lady Bird”), Evan Assante (“Dinosaur World”) Colton Osorio (“New Amsterdam”) and newcomer Vanessa Burghardt.
There are now three Hollywood productions going on around Pittsburgh: “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the Amazon Prime Video series “A League of Their Own” and Billy Porter’s directorial debut film “What If?” The IMDB TV series “Sprung” will join them later this month.
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: August 12, 2021, 8:55 p.m.
