The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza reportedly set to star in John Waters’ first film in 20 years

The queen of deadpan and king of filth are set to team up, with The White Lotus‘ Aubrey Plaza reportedly ready to star in John Waters’ first film in two decades.

Filmmaker Waters, best known for campy 1988 musical film Hairspray, black comedy Pink Flamingos and his frequent work with drag legend Divine, is turning his debut novel Liarmouth into a movie. It will mark his first directorial work since 2004 sex comedy, A Dirty Shame, which starred Tracey Ullman, Chris Isaak, Selma Blair and pardoned bank robber Patty Hearst.

Liarmouth centres on suitcase thief scammer and master of disguise Marsha Sprinkle.

Relying heavily on Waters’ “absurd and vulgar sense of humour”, the book tells the story of how Marsha forges her own criminal enterprise after being separated from her partner-in-crime during a heist at an international airport.

Her crime spree leads her to steal from her daughter Poppy, who is a manager at an adult trampoline park, and her mother Adora, a cosmetic surgeon for pets.

Following the thefts, Poppy decides to kill her compulsive liar of a mother, and the three women are led into an odd family reunion.

While the film adaptation was announced shortly after the book was published in 2022, little other information is known – potentially because of last year’s Hollywood strikes. But, according to movie news site World of Reel, comedian and Parks and Recreation star Plaza has signed up to play Marsha.

The site reports that production is set to begin this summer in Baltimore, where Waters was born.

In 2022, following the news that Liarmouth was being made into a movie, Plaza revealed to Dazed that she was desperate for a part in it.

“I emailed him immediately, and said: ‘You better let me audition for you. I even look like the girl on the cover [of the book]’,” she joked.

“I exclusively audition for John Waters. He told me I’m on his list, but I want to be top of the list. I want to be the only person on his list. They’ve told me I’m this generation’s [Serial Mom star] Kathleen Turner. I mean, come on – I’m a shoo-in. I need that movie.”

While A Dirty Shame received a lukewarm response from fans and critics, with a 54 per cent approval rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes, Waters enjoyed huge success following his writing duties for the 2007 remake of Hairspray, which starred John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nikki Blonsky.

In addition to his repertoire of provocative and distinctive cult film creations, including the oddball Pecker, which featured Terminator 2‘s Eddie Furlong as a slightly pervy young photographer, the director is also known for acting in a wide range of movies and TV shows, from Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Simpsons to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Love You to Death.