Mazel Tough cast adds Alex Rich, Colin Ford and Jonathan Lipnicki
Mazel Tough has set its cast, with Evan Scolnick directing the Jewish dating rom-com in Tulsa this October.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Mazel Tough has lined up its cast, with Alex Rich, Colin Ford, Adam Shapiro, Michael Vlamis, Jonathan Lipnicki and Sofia Masson joining the romantic comedy, Deadline reported.
The film centers on modern dating within the Jewish community, following a young Jewish man looking for love, identity and connection during the holiday season. Deadline described the story as arriving at a moment when finding a match can feel more complicated than ever.
Rich is known for Genius: Picasso, Ford for We Bought a Zoo, Shapiro for The Bear, Vlamis for The Odyssey, Lipnicki for Primetime and Masson for Waltzing with Brando.
What is Mazel Tough about?
Mazel Tough is a romantic comedy about a young Jewish man searching for romance and belonging during the holidays. The film uses Jewish culture and the current dating scene as the frame for a broader story about trying to find the right person.
The project will mark the feature directing debut of Evan Scolnick. His earlier work includes the short film Background Action, which follows a production assistant managing extras on a superhero movie.
Deadline reported that the short drew on Scolnick’s time at Marvel Studios, where he worked on projects including Hawkeye.
Scolnick said he had not expected his first feature to be a rom-com, but the story became more meaningful to him as he spent time with it.
“I never imagined my debut feature would be a romantic comedy, yet the more I lived with this deeply personal story, the more I realized how timely and globally resonant it is,” Scolnick said, according to Deadline.
He added that while the film is grounded in Jewish culture, its central idea is broader: “the hope of finding the right person.”
When does Mazel Tough start filming?
Production is scheduled to begin in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October, Deadline reported.
Billy Greenfield, Cassidy Lunnen and Daniel Stuzin are producing the film, with Scolnick also serving as a producer. Executive producers include Adam Harris Engelhard, Stephen Mastrocola, Jonathan Lipnicki, Matthew Helderman and Luke Morton of Buffalo 8 Productions. Ricki Maslar is handling casting.
Lipnicki and Engelhard, speaking for Buffalo 8 in a joint statement, said they had been looking for a Jewish film to support and saw Mazel Tough as that project.
They said Scolnick had created a story that is “specific, funny, and emotionally accessible” and expressed confidence in his voice, the cast and the producing team, according to Deadline.
Deadline also reported the cast’s representation: Rich is represented by Megan Silverman Management and Buchwald; Ford by Innovative Artists and Greenlight Management; Shapiro by Innovative Artists and Seven Summits Management; Vlamis by CESD Talent and Artists First; Lipnicki by Vault Entertainment and Innovative Artists; and Masson by Mosaic.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.