May 18, 2026 9:35pm PT

Tiffany Haddish Gets Dramatic in Two Thrillers at the Cannes Market: ‘Audiences Are Desiring Real Storytelling’

Clayton Davis

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Clayton Davis

Senior Awards Editor

byClaytonDavis

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Tiffany Haddish has no interest in imposter syndrome.

She speaks with the certainty of someone who has already envisioned and earned every room she walks into. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, those rooms will be scattered across the Croisette, where she arrives with two character-driven thrillers on Highland Film Group’s sales slate — making a pointed case that her dramatic range has long been underestimated.

In Matt Sukkar’s “The Deputy,” Haddish plays Amanda Jackson, an honest officer navigating a deeply corrupt Mississippi town. The action thriller, written by “Narcos” and “Griselda” co-creator Carlo Bernard and adapted from Victor Gischler’s novel, was shot in May 2025 in Mississippi.

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The ensemble cast includes Duke Nicholson (grandson of Jack Nicholson), William H. Macy, Stephen Dorff and Julia Fox. Haddish also serves as an executive producer.

Her second project, “The Girl in the River,” is similarly rooted in Mississippi, with production spanning Canton, Jackson and Vicksburg in August 2025. Directed by Brando Benetton, she stars alongside Ralph Macchio, Devon Sawa and Maggie Grace in a story about a seasoned criminologist and a young psychologist drawn into a remote town to investigate the murder of a little girl and the disappearance of her twin sister.

Both films lean into darker, procedural territory — and that wasn’t necessarily by design.

“I’m not trying to go into law enforcement,” she quips.

Still, Haddish is clear-eyed about her dramatic instincts.

“I know that I’m really good at that drama stuff,” she tells Variety, speaking with a firm command of her abilities. Comedy remains her calling card, but she describes dramatic work as emotionally demanding in a different way — less escape, more exposure.

For Haddish, who was a former foster child and spent years navigating the court system, the material often hits closer to home than audiences might realize.

“I belonged to the state of California,” she says, recalling a childhood shaped by judges and case workers. “I know how to play those people. They’ve been in my world.”

In today’s marketplace, both films land in a lane that has become increasingly rare domestically: mid-budget, adult-skewing thrillers that continue to attract international buyers.

“Audiences are desiring real storytelling,” Haddish says. But she also acknowledges the tension of the moment. “We’re living in a psycho thriller. And we’d much rather be watching the psycho thriller.”

At one point in the interview, she shifts from humor to emotion, becoming visibly tearful while reflecting on how her personal history has shaped her work.

“A journey with no drama is not a journey at all,” she says. “I’m glad that I’ve hit speed bumps.”

It’s a philosophy that doubles as a quiet pitch to studios: Haddish’s comedic identity isn’t going anywhere, but her dramatic work is now aligning with material built to meet it.

Before the conversation ends, she offers one more ambition—delivered with her signature mix of sincerity and playfulness. Before turning 50 in four years, she wants to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a swimsuit model. After that, she floats another goal: the presidency.

“That bar has been lowered so much that I believe I can do it.”

A punchline (mostly).

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