The Maid of Orleans cast has its two leads: Tony-nominated Mike Faist and Euphoria‘s Maude Apatow will star in the upcoming drama The Maid of Orleans, written and directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz as the follow-up to her feature debut Good Girl Jane, Deadline reported October 5, via Just Jared.
Astute Films is financing the project, and filming is set to begin this week — an unusually fast turnaround for a casting announcement, suggesting the production is ready to move.
The Maid of Orleans Cast: A Story Within a Story
The film follows a young woman assisting a famously talented, complicated director on a French production of Joan of Arc — a film-within-a-film premise that gives Mintz rich material to work with. The synopsis, per Deadline’s original report, promises a behind-the-scenes drama as much as a historical one.
Mintz made her feature debut with Good Girl Jane, which premiered at Tribeca in 2022 and announced her as a filmmaker to watch. The Maid of Orleans marks a significant step up in scale and ambition, pairing two of the most in-demand young actors in the business.
Mike Faist: From “Challengers” to Joan of Arc
Faist earned his Tony nomination in 2017 as a featured actor in Dear Evan Hansen before breaking through on screen. He starred opposite Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers (2024), and most recently headlined Netflix’s limited series East of Eden, which premiered the week of October 1, 2026, co-starring Florence Pugh and Christopher Abbott.
His most recent released film is actually The Bikeriders, which arrived in June 2024 — two months after Challengers — so The Maid of Orleans marks his first major film role since his busy 2024 screen run. The Joan of Arc drama is a sharp pivot from tennis whites and biker leather into period prestige territory.
Maude Apatow Steps Beyond “Euphoria”
Apatow remains best known as Lexi Howard on HBO’s Euphoria, where her season-two play-within-the-show was one of the series’ most talked-about arcs — experience that should serve her well in a film literally about putting on a production of Joan of Arc.
The pairing is inspired casting: two performers who specialize in observant, quietly intense characters, now placed inside a story about art, ego and the collision of the two.
Why the Joan of Arc Angle Matters
Joan of Arc remains one of cinema’s most enduring subjects — from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent landmark The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) to Luc Besson’s The Messenger (1999). But Mintz’s film isn’t a Joan of Arc biopic; it’s about the making of one, and about the young woman caught in the orbit of a brilliant, difficult director. That meta-layer gives the material a contemporary edge the straight historical drama might lack.
With financing locked, leads cast and cameras rolling this week, The Maid of Orleans is one to watch on the festival circuit. For more casting news, see our stories on Walton Goggins joining the “Miami Vice ’85” cast and the “Sicario 3” cast reunion.
FAQ
Who is in The Maid of Orleans cast?
Mike Faist (Challengers, Netflix’s East of Eden) and Maude Apatow (Euphoria) will star, as reported by Deadline on October 5, 2026.
Who is directing The Maid of Orleans?
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz, who wrote and directed the film as the follow-up to her feature debut Good Girl Jane (Tribeca 2022).
What is The Maid of Orleans about?
Per Deadline’s synopsis, it follows a young woman assisting a famously talented, complicated director on a French production of Joan of Arc.
When does filming on The Maid of Orleans begin?
Filming is set to begin the week of October 5, 2026. Astute Films is financing the project.
Sources: Just Jared (reporting Deadline’s original report), Meaww
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