Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, might be best known these days as a stiletto-wearing, SoulCycling meme who keeps trying to rehab her image with a series of profiles.
But guys, she’s an actress who has appeared in “CSI: NY” and “Cabin Fever,” and she’s currently hard at work on a “rom-com,” as she reminded us in her latest profile, this one in Washingtonian magazine. So, let’s find out more about this upcoming film, shall we?
Seems Linton is revisiting a movie filmed in Milwaukee in 2013 titled “Serial Daters Anonymous,” in which she stars as a “witty, driven fashion columnist” who leaves her would-be husband at the altar after he reveals that he cheated on her. She becomes a dating blogger who dishes on the terrible men she meets in some sort of revenge-against-dudes ploy. At least that’s what we gleaned from the trailer, which features a scene of Linton in a wedding gown getting the shocking news from the almost-husband, followed by a montage of breakup scenes and bad dates. “Where are you going to live?” the jilted husband asks. “Baghdad,” she answers. “Possibly the Sudan, maybe the Democratic Republic of Congo — I hear the guys are really nice there.”
(Wait, that last line seems a little more interesting in 2018, given the context we now know: In 2016, Linton self-published a memoir of the gap year she spent in Africa that was so eviscerated she eventually withdrew the book. Maybe edit that one out?)
There are shades of “Sex and the City” here (in one scene, Linton’s character looks positively Carrie Bradshaw-esque in an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, tapping on a laptop). And though it doesn’t look like a high-budget film — more like Lifetime TV-worthy production values — it does feature an Actual Star: Milwaukee native Sam Page, a veteran of “Mad Men” and “House of Cards,” plays the one guy in her scheme whom Linton’s character actually falls for.
Executive producer Sam Kozé says the movie was screened at a 2014 festival but never released. “It was on hold to get additional funding and enhancements,” he tells us. The cast and crew are shooting new scenes and making other tweaks, he says, though he hasn’t been involved on the creative side with the updates. He expects a “wide release” this year, though the timing depends on a yet-to-be-struck distribution deal.
Who is financing the flick is unclear, and Kozé referred us on that point to Linton, whose publicist said only that the movie is in postproduction and “there is no release date at the moment.” (Before he came to Washington, Linton’s husband was a movie financier behind blockbusters such as “The Devil Wears Prada,” the X-Men films and “Avatar.”)
Ryan Blomquist, an associate producer on the original filming in Milwaukee, says Linton was a dream to work with. “She was very professional — always on time,” he says.
Meanwhile, Linton has recently teased her work on the film, sharing behind-the-scenes peeks on her Instagram account. “Wrapping up another great day in post,” she wrote alongside an image of a monitor screening the altar scene.
