“How can we bring more women forward?”
That’s the pressing question for producing partners Jessica Alba and Tracey Nyberg, who together launched Lady Metalmark Entertainment two years ago. The duo — connected by a mutual friend in what Nyberg (Ready or Not, Your Place or Mine) calls “a game of Hollywood telephone” in 2022 — arrive in AFM with a Justin Chadwick-directed spy thriller The Mark, currently shooting on the Gold Coast.
It’s one of many they have in the works, including an R-rated, ensemble corporate retreat comedy just sold to Netflix and a Fox thriller about a Manhattan Beach psychic helping cops solve crimes (inspired by a real-life medium Alba knows). Lady Metalmark has also boarded Swiss Oscar entry Queens and a Michael Peña-starring, Ocean’s 11-esque Latino heist movie. What sounds like an assorted mix of projects, however, is something far more intentional: “It’s still so bleak in Hollywood, the representation,” Alba tells The Hollywood Reporter ahead of AFM. “Women are just as capable as anyone.”
This emphasis on strong female characters, as well as Alba’s ambition to challenge Hollywood’s Latino cliches (“we don’t have to always play into the stereotype of drug dealer or a domestic worker”) is proving a powerful anchor for the pair as Lady Metalmark begins to really take off. The Mark, they hope, is indicative of that philosophy.
Chadwick’s movie, written by Ronnie Christensen (best known for Passengers), follows Alba as Eden, an enigmatic spy on a covert and dangerous mission. When she pulls single father Ben Dawson (Umbrella Academy alumnus Tom Hopper) into her world of high-stakes espionage, his life is turned upside down. Mistaken for the world’s deadliest assassin, Ben becomes the perfect decoy for Eden. She uses the mix-up to expose a powerful network of corrupt politicians, placing Ben in the crosshairs of the CIA, Interpol and ruthless crime syndicates. With enemies closing in from all sides, Eden must keep Ben alive long enough to complete her mission, while Ben must stay alive to return home to his daughter.
“It comes in the packaging of this really cool, stylish action movie, [but] at its core it’s the journey of a type of female character that you don’t get to see very often,” says Nyberg about what attracted them to The Mark. Below, the pair dive into the work they’re doing at Lady Metalmark. Alba and Nyberg reveal what made Hopper the perfect fit for a coveted part, their swathe of talent-heavy projects up ahead, and how Alba’s balancing that tricky actor-producer role: “I feel satiated in a way that I guess I didn’t before.”
How far do you two go back? What was it that you saw in each other that made you think: This is a great producing partner.
TRACEY NYBERG We first met almost three years ago, but officially launched the company almost two years ago. It was just a game of Hollywood telephone, I like to say. Jess was starting to think about forming a company. I was starting to think about my next move. And someone we knew made the connection. Speaking for me personally, from jump, we had such similar taste in the kinds of things that we loved and the kinds of things we wanted to do. What I really responded to was that, because Jessica has been working both in entertainment, but then also because of [Alba’s co-founder role at baby products and personal care business] The Honest Company, and [her being] in the business world, she knows what it means to start a company and build it and be intentional and the work it takes. In my experience in Hollywood, not necessarily everyone has that business acumen.
JESSICA ALBA It’s weird, because when you get into business with someone, you go from meeting them to literally getting married and being like, “Alright, so now we’re having children.” [Laughs.] The whole courting [thing] doesn’t really happen, and you don’t really know if you buy it until you’re in the thick of it. We just literally lived together for three weeks in Australia in an apartment. I’m back [in the U.S.] for a week, and then I’m gonna go back. But we love each other. I love you, Tracey! We had the best time and we vibed. Now we’re at a point where I just look over at her, and she nods her head, and we have a psychic connection. She knows exactly what I’m thinking. I know exactly what she’s thinking. And we have that shorthand that I think you really need in order to have a great partner and to be on the same page. We also work at a pace. Both of us are very impatient. We’re not waiting around. We like to get things done. You have to be relentless until you get what you need to get done. Because it’s not easy and and it’s hard to build things from scratch. It’s hard to get people on board. But once you do and you start creating momentum, you just got to be ready for that. And I feel like we’re at this really beautiful point where we’re starting to pick up momentum and get things going. And it’s nice to have a partner who also has a strong moral compass, because that means a lot to me as well.
What attracted you both to The Mark?
ALBA I was excited about doing an action movie, but it being an elevated concept in that it’s about the relationship. There’s so many action movies out there, and you can get incredible action, and there’s amazing stunt teams, you know? Hollywood has it pretty dialed in. But you don’t always get humor. You don’t always get relationships. And for me, what really drew me to this was the relationship between my character and Tom’s character. It really is like two people that would never have have crossed paths, and they cross paths, and they love to hate each other. It reminds me of [TV series] Moonlighting in the ’80s, or [1984 film] Romancing the Stone, where there’s this tension between two people, an attraction that’s unexplainable [and through] the life and death circumstance they’re in, they’re forced to to collaborate. And, you know, despite their their differences and the two completely different worlds they come they come from. And then, Justin, his body of work… and frankly, when he talked about his vision for the film, in particular really leaning into the Gold Coast of Australia as a setting and embracing that. [He] uses the unique character of that city as part of the backdrop, it’s adds a real texture to the film, edgy rock and roll, almost a throwback to the ’80s eneergy of punk rock, cool, funky, rebellious vibe. I think what Tracy and I were drawn to is the fact that, most of the time you film on location somewhere, you are trying to make it be something else. Just’s like, “Let’s go all in on Gold Coast.” Tracey, do you want to talk a little bit about Esther?
NYBERG Sure, yeah. Esther Rosenberg is a production designer, someone who Justin identified and has championed. She’s a local Australian, up and coming, but she just has such a clear vision. When you walk on the sets, they’re so clearly tied together. They’re so clearly in the same world, everything from the color palette to the props. It is so well thought out. I really appreciate it. And I Jess, someone who has to live as an actor and live in that world, it just all really helps build out the story that you’re telling.
Would you happily film more in Australia?
ALBA Oh, yeah. I was like, “Um, can we move here? How do I get my kids in school here? How do I convince them? Maybe I can bring them back for Christmas.” I love it so much. I’m having the best time.
As you say, Hollywood is really dialed into this genre. So what was it about Ronnie’s script that made this film pop? Was it the relationship between Eden and Ben?
ALBA Yeah, I think Eden and Ben for sure, is what drew me to it. Obviously, as a woman, being written in these movies — and I’ve read a million of them, because it is a genre I love and appreciate and I have done a bit in this space — I feel like oftentimes, she just doesn’t really feel like a woman. She feels like it could have been written as a man, and then they just switched the names. I love [Eden’s] humanity, and I love her tenderness. There aren’t a lot of moments where we can bring that forward, but Justin allows for those moments to breathe and for her not to feel just like a cookie-cutter badass going through the motions. He’s a director who really is known for more of an artistic layer — that indie, artistic touch also elevates the movie, and it makes it more than just an action, shoot-them-up kind of movie.
I’m sure it was a pretty coveted role — why was Tom the right fit?
ALBA Oh my gosh, he’s an actual dream. He is incredible. When you look like that — because obviously he’s like, muscles and handsome and so obviously that guy — but he’s so funny, his comedic timing is 10 out of 10. He’s incredibly good with his physicality and the action. I’ve worked with a lot of actors and actresses, and it takes a minute to get comfortable with doing action and being able to act. It’s like tapping on your head and rubbing your stomach and walking and talking. You have to be quite coordinated, and not a lot of actors can do both very well, but we can throw him in with the stunt guys and he’s good to go. I’m usually like, “Can you replace the actor with the stunt person?” [Laughs.] I need to do the scene with the stunt person because I’m scared that I’m gonna get hurt. And he just totally [has] all the confidence in his physicality. But then, more importantly, as an actor, we get to find magical little moments. He has such tenderness to him, but he’s also got that British wit. It’s something that Justin loves. Justin’s just giggling behind the camera. We did a close-up right before I came back for the week, and I heard Justin giggling in the corner, and it’s Tom’s close-up, and I start laughing, and we’re both busting up. He did not break, not for a second. He was still totally in the moment. It was perfect. We’re having such a good time.
NYBERG And just as someone who’s sitting behind the monitors and watching the magic happen on screen, you feel that connection between the two of them and and you know they’ve each brought very specific things to inform these characters, to play off of each other.
ALBA He’s very grounded. And I think what also helps is we’re both parents, we have full lives. And when I say “we,” I mean Tracey, Justin as well. So you have this level of, “If I’m not going to be with my family and I’m going to be able to do this incredible thing and tell stories and inspire people… What can we do? How can we make sure that we make the most of every moment?” I feel like we’re all really living completely and totally in the moment. Nobody’s phoning it in. Everyone’s bringing their A-game.
How is The Mark indicative of the Lady Metalmark ethos? You’ve got a lot in the works, including a hard R ensemble comedy at Netflix and Switzerland’s 2025 Oscar entry Queens. What is the strategy going forward?
NYBERG I would say, for The Mark, first and foremost, we want to have a strong female character at the center, whether Jessica is the star or not. So this absolutely fits into that remit of a female assassin at a crossroads having to figure out what she’s doing. And even if, yes, it comes in the packaging of this really cool, stylish action movie, at its core, it’s the journey of a type of female character that you don’t get to see very often. As Jess alluded to, usually it’s the inverse — the damsel in distress, and the spy is the male character. I think that was really exciting as far as this specific project.
ALBA And usually, if you do get to see a woman who is in these movies, she’s often written very masculine. She isn’t very feminine. So being able to have a woman really being portrayed as a woman, but her humanity is coming through… To have this fun tension and romantic center, almost like a romcom, is just such a treat. I would say doing commercial fare is something that we are also all in on, Tracey and I.
NYBERG From our first conversation that was something we really connected on. I think our references, the movies that we responded to, there was just so much alignment. And then speaking to the broader strategy and vision of wanting to tell strong female stories and support filmmakers and voices… In the case of Queens, [director] Klaudia Reynicke is a really, really talented female filmmaker out of Peru and Switzerland. Helping her story, which is also this incredibly tender, moving story of a mom and her two daughters as they try and make a better life for themselves and what that means — [we’re] trying to give it some some attention and support the movie and the filmmaker and help her find an audience.
ALBA It’s what we’re also doing with Valentina. It’s another movie that’s out right now. It went to Mill Valley [Film Festival]. It won the Audience Award. It just won the Audience Award at Austin Film Festival [too]. We’re trying to champion the next generation of filmmakers. Obviously, the less represented of them are women, by a lot. How can we help bring more women forward, behind the camera, as writers, as directors, as art directors, as DPs? Anytime we have a moment where we can fill in a leadership role with a woman’s lens… Because it’s still so bleak in Hollywood, the representation. Women are just as capable as anyone. If you’re in a leadership role and you’re not a woman, it’s just a blind spot, and they don’t see that that’s something that can be filled by someone that doesn’t look like them. We’re fortunate enough to be in those leadership roles where we can [help fill those positions]. Representation is also a big deal. There is a huge Latino community that is wildly underrepresented, so being able to do big commercial fare, whether I’m in it or someone else, and show that we can have Latinos at the lead and we don’t have to always play into the stigma and stereotype of drug dealer or a domestic worker. We can be anything. Being able to flip those tropes on their head and and tell really human stories inside of these fun commercial concepts. We have a couple of really exciting projects that we have announced.
NYBERG Obviously, you saw the announcement about the untitled corporate retreat — we’re landing on a title. [Laughs.] But that’s a Netflix [with] this great young writer Madison Vanderberg, [it’s] a female ensemble and hard R comedy. And that’s been developed for Jess to star. And then we sold a TV show to Fox with a really, really, wonderful Latino showrunner Rob Sudduth. It’s based on this real-life person, someone Jess has been friends with, this woman called Jen Shaffer who’s a psychic in Manhattan Beach. She is just not what you expect a psychic to be — she’s incredibly put together, feminine, amazing fashion, amazing jewellery, the sharpest blonde bob you’ve ever seen, but also consults with law enforcement and speaks to dead people. It’s fantastic. So [we’re] building a show inspired by her and her work with law enforcement. And then, as Jess alluded to, we have this project that we’re just literally [putting] out in the marketplace right now with Robert Rodriguez and starring Jess and Michael Peña. It’s an ensemble heist. Think Ocean’s 11 or Now You See Me but with the Robert Rodriguez flair and a predominantly Latino cast. It’s really, really fun.
ALBA I love Robert. I host this event called culture makers that’s about celebrating all different Latinos in various roles across entertainment. Everyone from producers to showrunners to writers to directors to actors and musicians and so on…. I was like, what if we all just get together and we actually hang out and we start to work together and we collaborate with one another? Because oftentimes we’re the one Latino in the group amongst a wider range. What if we start working together ourselves and telling our own stories? That was really what I dreamt of. And then a bunch of projects have come out of it. One of them is this, with Michael Peña. We were chatting at my culturemakers event, and I was like, “What do you want to do?” And he was like, “Man, we should just do a fun action movie, all Latinos, and it’ll be a family drama at the center. Because you know how we’re crazy and we talk on top of each other, and our culture is is so fun, and no one gets to see who we really are, because we’re always in this tight pocket or stereotype.” And I was like, “Oh my God, Robert would love that.”
NYBERG There’s Confessions on the 7:45 which is a book adaptation with [showrunner] Charise Castro Smith and Eva Longoria directing the pilot. We’re doing that with 20th [Century Fox].
What a slate. So much is happening and with so much variation, too. Jessica, how have you found wearing your producer hat while also starring in some of these projects?
ALBA Oh, it’s the best. Maybe the one thing that was challenging for me as an actress when I was in my 20s was the fact that I wasn’t a producer, and I didn’t feel like I had a seat at the table. When I was hired on my first big job, it was Dark Angel and Jim Cameron basically gave me the keys to the castle. He treated me like a producer. He treated me like a collaborator. He treated me like what I said mattered and cared about my opinions. Him and Chic [Charles] Eglee, they really brought me in — even though I was 17 years old — and treated me with respect. And then you can go on other sets and in other environments, and you feel a little bit like you’re just a puppet. They don’t always treat you with that degree of respect or support or care about you in the same way. I’ve been trying to get back to that seat at that table, and I didn’t realize what it was, but it is being able to be a producer. Being behind the scenes of the writing and [working with] the director, being able to collaborate with them and really feel like all of you can bring this vision to life together. To solve problems in the moment, and have the authority to do that… And then when we do the final edit, being able to be there as well and have your opinion on, “Hey, I remember this one day, there was that take. Let’s see what that looks like.” I feel satiated in a way that I guess I didn’t before, when I was just an actress.
