Jessica Marie Garcia is heading to Atlanta to play a vampire who has been stuck working the same movie theater since 1939.
The On My Block and Liv and Maddie star will produce and star in Randy Mandy and the Curse of the Plaza Theatre, a vampire comedy from Dawn of the Jerks Pictures, Deadline first reported. Filming is set to begin in 2027 on location at the Plaza Theatre, the historic Ponce de Leon Avenue cinema that opened in December 1939.
Garcia plays Mandy Alejandra Pike, a British Latina vampire whose maker, Vicente, has held her captive as the Plaza's only employee for more than 80 years. Living behind the movie screen, Mandy has discovered herself through decades of cinema. With help from her only vampire friend, Dawn, she has to outmaneuver Vicente to win her freedom.
"A character like Mandy comes along once in a lifetime, and I am overjoyed to bring her to life," Garcia told Deadline.
An Atlanta-made vampire comedy
Kristina Arjona directs from a script she co-wrote with Leanna Adams, both Atlanta filmmakers. Arjona said the team searched for "a Latina Lucille Ball" to play Mandy. Kiah Clingman of KiahCan Productions, Marie Halliday of Curious Witch Films and Patricia Taylor produce. Richard Taylor, Patricia Taylor and Plaza Theatre owner Christopher Escobar are executive producers.
The project has deep local roots. The Atlanta Film Society chose the script for a Page to Stage reading at the Plaza in September 2024, with a live cast and organ music in the theater itself. The team has described the film as a dark comedy that explores grief, queer identity, mental health and intimacy through a supernatural lens, and it has partnered with Georgia nonprofits on paid mentorships for local filmmakers.
Born in Orlando, Florida, to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother, Garcia broke out as Becky on ABC's The Middle and Willow on Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie. She went on to play Jasmine on Netflix's On My Block and Rhonda on How to Get Away With Murder. Randy Mandy puts her at the center of a film and behind the scenes as a producer.
