Maria Bakalova Teases ‘Mayday’ with Ryan Reynolds & Kenneth Branagh

Maria Bakalova is everywhere. The talented Bulgarian actress has been seen in a swirl of new film and TV projects lately. Currently, the Dirty Angels star lends her voice as Princess Ilana Rostovic in Creature Commandos on Max, the first offering in James Gunn’s much-talked-about DCU reboot. Earlier this year, Bakalova played Ivana Trump in The Apprentice, which just nabbed two Golden Globes nominations. She’s also set to star opposite Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh in Mayday, an upcoming action film directed and written by John Francis Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Bones) and Jonathan Goldstein (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Game Night).

“I’ve been lucky with the people that I got a chance to work with, not only because they’re proven to be incredibly talented, gifted, and honestly great professionals, but they’re really kind human beings,” Bakalova told MovieWeb in a recent interview. She added:

“[Ryan] has been very supportive, open, and very funny. It’s been like a gift to be on set. I played with him and Kenneth Branagh, who is like a British treasure. The fact that I got a chance to collaborate with both of them, it’s been incredible. It’s also an adventure action movie, and it’s only my second one after Dirty Angels.”

Mayday follows a lieutenant’s risky reconnaissance mission in Soviet territory that involves a crash-land-and-survive odyssey in the Russian wilderness. The twist? He can’t be captured or rescued. Bakalova may have also had a change of heart about what genre films she prefers after starring in Mayday. She said:

“I promise I am really falling in love with this [action] genre, even though I didn’t really know a lot about it before. Because I grew up with the idea about emotionally heavy, deep, dramatic performances… movies, specifically Scandinavian movies, Danish movies, and then I found myself in these big action hero adventure movies, and it’s great.”

Maria Bakalova Heads into New Territory with Dirty Angels

It’s great for audiences, too. Bakalova’s celebrity started rising after starring opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in the 2020 mockumentary film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. She also worked with Gunn in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before Creature Commandos and Dirty Angels came along.

On that note, Bakalova is eager to see how audiences respond to Dirty Angels. Eva Green leads the action-packed film, playing a beleaguered military operative who must team up with a covert group of mostly female commandos to save young female hostages in Afghanistan. Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) directs. Bakalova plays a savvy bomb expert. Expect big action scenes. “I’m really excited about this movie,” Bakalova said, “because it’s such a badass movie about women that can really save the world.” Dirty Angels opened in theaters and was released on digital and on demand December 13. You can rent or buy it on digital platforms like YouTube, Apple TV< Google Play, Fandango at Home, and on Prime Video through the link below:

Watch Dirty Angels

From Martin Campbell, director of Casino Royale, comes this tense action-thriller. When a group of schoolgirls is taken hostage in Afghanistan, an American soldier named Jake (Eva Green) joins a unit of all-women commandos to liberate them. The plan: Gain the trust of the terrorists by posing as members of a relief organization. But double-crosses, tragedies, and the ghosts of Jake’s past complicate the rescue in this do-or-die mission. With Maria Bakalova, Ruby Rose, and Jojo T. Gibbs.

Release Date

December 13, 2024

Director

Martin Campbell

Distributor(s)

Lionsgate