Asia Argento on Racist Role, Locarno Honor & Gia Carangi

Asia Argento, the actress and filmmaker best known to international audiences for her role in xXx, has landed a new honor at the Locarno Film Festival, where she also used the spotlight to address her latest on-screen role - one she describes as playing “a racist” - and to reveal her executive-producer duties on an upcoming documentary about the late model Gia Carangi.

The festival, held in the Swiss city, served as the backdrop for Argento’s multifaceted career update. She received a career achievement award at Locarno, a recognition that underscores her decades of work both in front of and behind the camera. During the event, Argento delved into the details of her recent projects, offering rare insight into choices that she said continue to push her toward uncomfortable and challenging material.

Argento’s description of her new character as “a racist” immediately drew attention, given her history of taking on provocative and often polarizing roles. She didn't specify the film’s title, director, or release date, but framed the part as a deliberate exploration of moral ugliness - a departure from any sympathetic-leaning characters she has portrayed in the past. The actress implied that the role forces both her and the audience to sit with discomfort, rather than offering easy redemption arcs.

Beyond acting, Argento is expanding her producing portfolio. She confirmed she is executive-producing a documentary centered on Gia Carangi, the iconic Philadelphia-born model whose meteoric rise in the late 1970s and early 1980s was tragically cut short by her death from AIDS-related complications in 1986 at age 26. Carangi is often cited as the first supermodel, and her life has been the subject of books and a 1998 HBO film starring Angelina Jolie.

Argento did not elaborate on the documentary’s production timeline or distribution plans, but her involvement adds a layer of personal resonance. Argento has long been vocal about her own struggles with addiction and trauma, and her connection to Carangi’s story appears rooted in a shared sense of battling inner demons under public scrutiny. She described the project as a labor of love aimed at reclaiming Carangi’s narrative from the tabloid sensationalism that often defined her.

The Locarno honor itself is notable within the context of Argento’s career arc. She first gained international fame through her father Dario Argento’s horror films, including The Stigmata and Mother of Tears, but her role in the 2002 action thriller xXx opposite Vin Diesel gave her a mainstream Hollywood profile. Since then, she has alternated between independent European cinema, directorial efforts, and high-profile activism, most notably as one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in 2017.

Receiving the award in the same year she is promoting such varied work suggests a moment of consolidation for Argento. At 50, she remains a polarizing figure - fiercely outspoken, prone to public controversy, yet undeniably influential in certain corners of cinema. Her Locarno speech reportedly touched on the importance of artistic risk, and she framed her upcoming roles as part of a broader commitment to stories that examine prejudice and systemic failure.

The documentary on Carangi, should it come to fruition, will join a crowded field of fashion-world retrospectives, but Argento’s involvement could give it an edge in emotional authenticity. Carangi’s story has often been told through the lens of tragedy - her heroin addiction, her abandonment by the fashion industry, and her lonely final days. Argento’s own public history, including her struggles with substance use and her fierce condemnation of industry hypocrisy, suggests a documentary that might focus less on glamour and more on the human cost of fame.

No release window or production updates were provided for any of the projects mentioned. The lack of concrete details did little to dampen the enthusiasm at Locarno, where Argento’s presence was clearly a highlight of the festival's events. For now, the actress-producer seems content to let her work generate the conversation, even if that work requires her to embody someone she finds morally repugnant. In her own words, she is interested in portraying the parts of society people often prefer to ignore.

As the film industry continues to reckon with its own histories of abuse and representation, Argento’s dual role as a survivor and a provocateur keeps her at the center of that conversation. Whether she is playing a bigot or producing a documentary about a faded idol, she appears determined to use her platform to stir unease rather than comfort. Locarno’s honor suggests that approach still has value, at least to those who appreciate cinema’s ability to discomfort as much as to entertain.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter