Krysten Ritter is continuing her recent trend of villainous characters with Stone Cold Fox, and is relishing every moment of how evil she is in the film. The ’80s-set movie centers on Fox, a young woman who narrowly escaped an abusive commune, only to find herself pulled back in when local drug queenpin Goldie, played by Ritter and the one who drew Fox into her world of mental and emotional manipulation, kidnaps her little sister and sends her dirty police connection after the central character.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s Kiernan Shipka leads the star-studded cast of Stone Cold Fox in the titular role alongside Ritter, two-time Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland as the crooked officer, Sgt. Billy Breaker, Dexter: New Blood‘s Jamie Chung and The Boys‘ Karen Fukuhara. The movie also serves as the feature directorial debut of Sophie Tabet, working off of a script she co-wrote with Julia Roth and based on a story from them and Jonathan Craven.
Ahead of the movie’s release, ScreenRant interviewed Krysten Ritter to discuss Stone Cold Fox. In reflecting on how Goldie compares to some of her other characters, who often have a “shade of grey” to them, be they heroic like Jessica Jones or villainous as Dexter: Resurrection‘s Lady Vengeance, Ritter described it as being “so fun” to play someone so uniquely antagonistic.
Joking that “I don’t know what that says about me“, the Orphan Black: Echoes alum went on to express that she has “such a fun time playing villains“, as well as projects in which “things are stylized and over the top“. Ritter went on to explain that her Stone Cold Fox antagonist was a “rare one to come along“, given it’s not often “that we see a true villain like her“:
Krysten Ritter: It isn’t often that we see a true villain like her that’s just awful and so toxic and such a predator. There’s no heart of gold or redeeming quality about her. She is just straight evil and being unapologetic in that is really delicious to play in a performance.
Turning to the movie’s action set pieces, Ritter feels that fans of her work will appreciate Stone Cold Fox, even if Goldie is “something I haven’t done before“. Even while the villain may be “very evil“, Ritter finds that “it’s still in the same ballpark” as her other works that her fans will enjoy.
Ritter Loved Learning The “Stylish” Ways Of Tabet’s Direction
ScreenRant: You mentioned, too, the throwback nature of Stone Cold Fox. Everything from, especially the way this film is presented from a trailer or promotional standpoint, it feels like something out of the ’80s. Are you a fan of this era of film, this kind of genre of film, and what was it like to get to play in something like this?
Krysten Ritter: I am a fan. I love things that have a heightened visual style and a clear visual language, and I love a big swing, so I kind of will always choose something like that when it comes my way, because it gives you just so much creative license and I love when a filmmaker has a strong point of view. I love that. I would much prefer to do that than something kind of straight and a straight character. This is not as fun for me, and this was pure candy, and I’m so excited to see what Sophie does next. This was her first film, and it’s not easy to pull off something like this that is so ambitious. In 21 days, to have action, blood, stunts, all of that and this cinematic visual style that she’s doing with the film, it’s not easy to pull that off. I was so excited for her and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
ScreenRant: Yeah, that was my very next question. Working with Sophie as a first-time director must be just the coolest experience getting to play with someone who, on the surface, might sound inexperienced, but they’re coming in with such a fresh perspective. How does that feel as a performer, to be entrusted with someone’s debut project? Do you feel a heightened sense of responsibility?
Krysten Ritter: Yeah, I mean, obviously, a first-time director is always going to feel like a risk because they could hit it out of the park, or it could be something that never finishes. You never know. I met her and talked to her. First of all, the script was really cool. The part was really cool, but Sophie is the coolest person I’ve ever met. She’s stylish, she looks cool. She’s got references and music taste and film taste, just way cooler than me. And I was like, ‘Okay, she’s got a point of view and I believe in her.’ And she also did herself a huge favor by getting a really good cinematographer, who has done really big stuff like Deadpool, and then came and did this movie and every frame looked like that could be ...er or looked like a still. And I love that. I love a DP that’s going to come in with a real style like that, so it was just kind of popcorn candy all around.
ScreenRant: Yeah. It seemed like there was a clear mission statement from the get-go. If you’re telling me you shot this thing in 21 days —
Krysten Ritter: Yeah, I mean that’s nothing. It was really tight. There was one day where it was like, we’ve been here a long time. Are we, should we go? We all just loved it so much that we wanted to keep giving Sophie things that she could use. I think there was one day we might’ve worked 21 hours just because everybody loved it, and we wanted to get it right and wanted to give Sophie options in the edit, and that is a testament of how much everybody was on the same page and wanting to support her vision.
Stone Cold Fox is now in theaters.
- Release Date
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November 7, 2025
- Writers
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Julia Roth, Sophie Tabet
- Producers
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Jonathan Craven, Eric B. Fleischman, Chris Abernathy, Julia Roth, Sophie Tabet, Stephen Braun