Colin Mochrie and Andrea Martin join 1950s romance 'Any Way You Want Me'

Colin Mochrie and Andrea Martin have joined the cast of ‘Any Way You Want Me,’ the romantic drama now shooting in Toronto. The casting was reported by Variety on 23 September. The film is written and directed by Rana Strazza, who controls both the script on the page and the action on the set.

The story takes place in 1950s New England, a small-town world of diners and high-school ties. Fina Strazza stars as Billie Blake, the young woman at the centre of the story. Brian Altemus plays Calvin Wilkes, her high-school boyfriend who now runs a diner.

The production is aiming for an authentic throwback. It is designed to play like a picture actually made in the 1950s period. That means the look, the music cues and the manner of the love story all point back to that era.

Callan Potter, Cobie Smulders and Iris Apatow are also in the cast. The wider ensemble includes Marium Carvell, Rebecca Ablack, Jennifer Hui, Michaela McGowan, Robert Fulton and Joseph Daly. In film terms, that ensemble forms the supporting group around the central couple.

First Magnitude Films and Stagg Forrest Films are producing the picture. Fina Strazza is also listed as a producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Toronto shoot is set to wrap in mid-October, closing the main block of filming with the cast.

Martin arrives with heavyweight stage credits. She has won two Tony Awards, the annual New York theatre prizes, from four nominations. Mochrie and Martin now join a cast built around younger leads.

Strazza previously starred in ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ and ‘Paper Girls.’ A producer credit means she is involved beyond acting, helping guide the film from script to screen. A romantic drama, in plain terms, puts the love story first and lets the period setting press on every choice.

What makes this stand out is the double act at its heart. A returning boyfriend and a diner counter is classic 1950s shorthand for home, duty and second chances. Playing it straight, in period style, lets the cast lean into that language. It is a simple hook, clearly told.

For fans, this means a short wait for a first look. The company is on location in Toronto for a story set in New England, and cameras roll through mid-October. That wrap will close the set phase before the long work of editing begins. That is when a period piece truly takes shape.