Adria Arjona’s four favourite movies
Like all ‘overnight successes’, Adria Arjona has actually been around for a very long time.
One of her earliest film roles was in 2016’s The Belko Experiment, a horror film written by James Gunn. She played Dorothy Gale in Emerald City, a TV show set in the world of The Wizard of Oz that was cancelled after one season, before things truly began to pick up.
Now, Arjona is known for a number of memorable and successful roles. She starred in Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, a major critical hit despite Hollywood’s initial resistance towards making it. She appeared in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice, as well as in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor, which your friends have been telling you to watch nonstop since 2022. I bet NBC are kicking itself over cancelling her now.
As one of the fastest climbers on the cinematic ladder, Arjona’s opinion on the subject is coveted by just about everyone. At the premiere of Hit Man, she was cornered by Letterboxd, who demanded their usual pound of flesh: her four favourite films. “I knew that’s what you were going to ask me,” the Puerto Rican-born actor replied, before getting into the weeds of this impossible choice-making.
First up for the second-generation star—her father Richard is one of the most successful Latin American singers of all time—was an underrated classic. She chose John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence, which he made with his wife, Gena Rowlands. Mabel, a repressed housewife played by Rowlands, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her husband Nick, played by Peter Falk, has her committed to an asylum, which (shockingly) only makes things worse. The movie is widely regarded to be one of the best the director ever made, as well as home to Rowlands’ finest performance.
Next came Cinema Paradiso, the great Italian story about a young boy in a small Sicilian town who views life and love through the lens of the movies. Arjona then plucked Fight Club, the controversial David Fincher film that is the scourge of film bros everywhere. Finally, in a welcome change from the darker, more obscure choices, she opted for the much-loved family comedy School of Rock. Of course, that film was directed by Linklater, so there’s every chance she was just saying that to win favour with her current boss.
The reason this recap doesn’t include any quotes from Arjona is because she failed to provide any. She said that she ‘loved’ Fight Club, but that was the only thing she really said about any of the films she chose. One way to read this is that she doesn’t like interviews; she just wanted to get through this ordeal as quickly as possible. However, the video in which she gave her answers also includes responses from six other people, including Linklater and Glen Powell. Maybe she said much more, but her comments were cut for time.
From legendary world cinema to a much-discussed American classic to a laugh-a-minute favourite, Arjona’s choices span a huge scope. She is clearly a fan of many different branches of cinema, even if she doesn’t get much time to talk about it.
Adria Arjona’s four favourite movies
- A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
- Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988)
- Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
- School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003)
