Few films this year feature a cast as stacked as Rosebush Pruning, as the latest movie from Karim Aïnouz features Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Pamela Anderson, Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Tracy Letts, Lukas Gage, and Elena Anaya. Filled with incest, murder, and many wild scenes, it is 2026’s most outrageous movie (or at least the most outrageous with such a star-studded cast). ComingSoon spoke with Ananya about working with Pamela Anderson, what attracted her to the project, and more. It arrives in U.S. theaters on July 24, 2026.
“Underneath the Catalonian sun, a rich white American family lives in hedonistic isolation, seeking love and validation through one another, their designer wardrobes and pop music. When an outsider infiltrates the family, buried tensions surface and blood ties are severed,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Congrats on Rosebush Pruning. I really enjoyed the film. When we meet your character, you’re singing to Pamela Anderson. Talk me through that sequence. It’s not every day you get to sing to Pam Anderson. That had to be quite the experience.
Elena Anaya: This is the magic of cinema. You can get a phone call any day from Karim, inviting you to be her wife. That’s what I did. I happily joined the crew and this crazy, outrageously dysfunctional family. I joined them happily and was very proud to be a part of it.
This movie deals with pretty much the most toxic family situation imaginable. It’s hilarious. It’s unafraid to touch these very taboo topics and subject matter, which is naturally going to turn off some people. What interested you about the script’s willingness to just go for it and take those big swings? It’s unafraid to do anything, and it really goes out there.
I read the script. That’s something I always ask for before saying yes, even though I’m a huge fan of Karim’s movies and, of course, all the cast involved in this project.
I wanted to read the script, and I was very impressed by Efthimis’ writing. When I read it, I had the feeling that I was on a roller coaster. When you go to a fairground attraction, you go up and down and twist. I had the feeling that I’d never read a script like this.
I knew Karim was going to shoot it in a very funny, sexy, and diverse way, which I really loved. I asked him, “What do you need from me?” He said, “Just come and have some rehearsals with me.”
Even though the character is very tiny, you are an important part of this family because you are the outsider. It’s all very well represented by Ellen and the character that Ellen plays, but I’m also the outsider. I’m also the wise person who observes everything from the outside.
Imagine running into this crazy, toxic family that lives in isolation and is seeking love and validation from one another. I think if that happened to me in real life, I’d be very shocked. That’s why my character was, but in a funny, easy, and relaxed way, which I loved from Karim’s point of view.
You have some fun scenes. I love the moment when you learn about the first death that occurs in the film. You and Pam are just so giddy, laughing together. What stood out about Pam as a scene partner? It’s been so great seeing her doing some thought-provoking work as an actress lately.
She’s amazing. She’s very tough, very brave, such a great partner, and an even better human being. You just can’t help but love her and wish her the best trip ever. She’s like a piece of heaven.
In terms of working, she runs and dives in deeply with no net, without asking for security. She just runs, goes, and throws herself into whatever the director asks for.
We were always improvising and running the scenes in so many different ways, with Karim sometimes not even cutting, just going through another take and another take. It was almost a way of getting outside of ourselves, getting drunk in terms of imagining you’re drinking alcohol, then getting into one emotion, then changing into another emotion, and then another emotion.
He asked us, for example, as you mentioned, to react to that picture in so many different ways and, from there, follow the scene depending on how it affected us. She was fully ready and very brave to be part of this project because it was very fun, but it was weird. It was wild in a good way.
It’s definitely a wild movie. There’s a section where your character gets knocked out. I was really curious: What is it like playing a lifeless body? I imagine it’s either the easiest thing or shockingly difficult. How was that experience?
Elena Anaya: You have to be very relaxed. If you’ve practiced yoga, it will help you not suffocate when they say action because you barely breathe for a few seconds, almost a minute. You have to hold it, and if you breathe, do it in a very soft way.
The good part of this, because I’ve played a dead body before, was that at least we were not in one of those places where they put dead people inside in the mortuaries. When you have to put your body inside those things, it’s more dangerous and smells funny.
In this case, we were lying down in a beautiful garden and close to Pamela and the guys. Callum, who was my pal in that section of the movie, Callum Turner, was very gentle, generous, and kind while doing the killing. It was good. He was very sexy and good.
It’s so unique because you don’t have much screen time with Callum, but the part you do share is very meaningful. What is that experience like when you’re working with such a talented actor, but it’s only for a short couple of scenes and moments in a film? How was working with Callum? It was a brief interaction, but very meaningful.
He was amazing, very generous, very kind, and super professional. It really doesn’t matter if you have to play one scene or you’re a lead part in a movie. You have to play it fully, with full energy and full credibility. You have to make it believable.
It doesn’t matter if it’s one minute on screen or an hour and a half. You have to play it perfectly. When you have those partners, you always want more. It’s a shame we didn’t have a talk. I would have loved to have a talk with him and a scene with more interaction.
But the one we had was good enough. I’m very thankful to Karim for inviting me to be part of such an amazing family.
My last question for you: One of your big roles for us in America was in Wonder Woman, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary next year. You played Dr. Poison so fiercely, and you were so intense in that movie. What are you most proud of about that film and its legacy almost 10 years on?
Elena Anaya: It’s been 10 years already? Oh my goodness. I know because I finished the movie pregnant, and we had to do a reshoot. I’m going to tell you a short story. We have a minute.
Filming that movie was absolutely a dream for me. Patty Jenkins was an amazing director and a brave woman who made us believe in how a woman can direct such a great, big-budget movie and make it amazingly good.
After we finished the movie, Patty called me and said, “Hey, we need to bring you over to London.” I sent her a picture of me eight months pregnant. I said, “Okay, Dr. Poison has something on her belly now.” She said, “No worries. Wonder Woman has the same belly, eight months pregnant.”
Both of us were pregnant while shooting the last scene of the movie. She was throwing a huge tank over my body, and we were both completely pregnant. That was very funny because we could barely move, but we did as much as we could. Then they reduced our huge eight-month-pregnant bellies.
Filming that, being Dr. Poison, being able to play with such an amazing cast, and being in that amazing project was like a dream for me.
That’s an incredible story. That shows the power of women right there, getting it done even while pregnant and finishing the movie’s big fight scene. That’s wonderful.
Thanks to Elena Anaya for taking the time to talk abour Rosebush Pruning.
