‘Riff Raff’ director cast Jennifer Coolidge after watching her on ‘The White Lotus’: ‘That’s freaking Elizabeth Taylor’

Director Dito Montiel knows the cast of his movie Riff Raff is completely stacked.

“I hit the jackpot,” he told Yahoo Entertainment ahead of his film’s premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. It’s in theaters now.

The movie follows a former criminal who must confront his past when his old connections show up at his house for a long-overdue reckoning. It stars Jennifer Coolidge, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson, Ed Harris, Bill Murray and newcomer Miles J. Harvey.

“I directed all of them, so they’re all great,” Montiel said with a laugh. “I’d like to take credit for it, but these people know who they are. I’m an innocent bystander.”

When casting the role of Ruth, the frequently intoxicated and scorned matriarch of Riff Raff, Montiel knew he needed to pick someone “kind of like Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

“I was the last person on earth who didn’t know who Jennifer Coolidge is. I’m watching [The White Lotus] and I go, that lady — that’s freaking Elizabeth Taylor!” he said. “I was the last person to know her, but I’m so glad I did get to know her.”

Montiel was a longtime fan of Murray, who plays a nefarious henchman named Lefty. He ran into the actor years ago when working as a foot messenger in Manhattan.

“I was in an elevator while I was making a delivery. He still doesn’t know!” Montiel said. “I just remember thinking, man, that guy is taller than I thought. Just to be in a room with him is very exciting.”

Though Murray and Coolidge are the biggest scene-stealers in a sea of buzzy actors, the film’s star is Harvey. He plays DJ, a young man on the cusp of leaving for college when he finds himself in the middle of long-standing family tension.

“He’s so freaking good. And he’s kind of mean!” Montiel said of Harvey. “He doesn’t mean to be! … We met on Zoom, and he blew me away. Usually, you meet a young actor and they’re trying to be nice, but I said, ‘Man, you are great.’ And he was just like, ‘Yeah.’”

Montiel said Harvey’s muted reaction to his praise made him question whether he wanted the role, but he was “too darn good” to pass on. Ultimately, he joined the project, and their bond grew.

“He was maybe the most fun person to be around amongst a lot of fun people,” Montiel said. “All of them — Pete, Bill, Ed, Gabrielle — it’s a lot of fun people to be around.”

Together, the cast forms a “dysfunctional family,” just like the characters they play.

“And who doesn’t come from one!” Montiel said. “I love all the people in this film for their flaws. I come from a wacky family, so maybe that was part of it.”

Riff Raff is in theaters.

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