By Valerie Milano
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/6/25- In the indie sci-fi fever dream Star People, the line between fame and identity is as nebulous as the galaxies it drifts through. With a trippy visual style and deeply personal performances, the film manages to be both otherworldly and intimately human. I recently sat down with co-star Connor Paolo, who brings a grounded intensity to the film’s cosmic chaos—offering insight into what makes Star People a standout in this year’s festival circuit.
Paolo, known for his roles in Revenge, Gossip Girl, and gritty indies, takes a sharp left turn here, embracing the surreal and symbolic world crafted by director Adam Finberg. “It’s not a movie that holds your hand,” Paolo said during our Zoom interview. “You’re meant to feel a little lost, a little unnerved—but also oddly seen.”
Click below for our exclusive interview:
In Star People, Paolo plays Justin, a man grappling with internal identity crises that are mirrored by the chaos of a fame-obsessed, galaxy-spanning culture. “Despite the plot revolving around things that are not of this world,” Paolo explained, “it’s an incredibly human story. Finberg is deeply committed to authenticity, and the tone of the film really influenced the way we approached our performances.”
The result is a character that feels volatile and vulnerable all at once—an anchor in a swirling narrative that explores addiction, xenophobia, and self-deception. One of the most challenging scenes for Paolo involved confronting an immigrant family with cruelty. “It was really hard,” he admitted. “Even if it’s pretend, it’s still difficult to look talented actors in the eyes—especially a child—and be cruel. It stays with you.”
The emotional intensity was compounded by the relationships on set. “As the film went on, I fell more in love with Kat [Cunning] and McCabe Sly as people,” he shared. “So, to play a character who wasn’t getting along with them—that was hard. Every day on set, it felt like I was losing my friends again and again.”
Cunning and Sly’s performances complement Paolo’s with electric chemistry and a shared sense of risk. In previous interviews, Cunning described the film as a “collision of truth and illusion,” while Paolo called it “a psychedelic mirror to our digital selves.”
Paolo added that the surprise of working with such strong scene partners made the experience even richer: “It’s always such a wonderful thing when you start playing scenes and realize, ‘Oh good—they’re really good at this.’ Then you don’t have to work as hard,” he laughed.
But despite the fun on set, Star People is layered with serious themes. “I hope people feel less alone in their own struggle to be seen,” Paolo said. “Whether it’s a character like Taylor, who battles addiction, or someone like Ricardo, who challenges what we’ve been taught to fear—these are people trying to be loved and safe. Justin loses something beautiful because of his own ignorance and fear. There’s a big lesson in that.”
Creatively, Paolo gravitates toward bold, unconventional work. “I just want to work with people who are willing to fail,” he said. “If the boat’s going to sink, let’s go down swinging. I’ve always preferred making something good and hoping it’s successful, rather than the other way around.”
And Star People is undeniably a swing-for-the-fences kind of film. With kaleidoscopic visuals, glitterpunk-meets-retro style, and a synth-soaked soundscape, it’s a surrealist journey through ego, illusion, and what it means to be truly seen. “Maybe we’re all just playing a version of ourselves,” Paolo mused. “And that’s okay—until it’s not.”
Asked who would’ve played Justin if the film had been made in the ’90s, Paolo grinned: “I’d love to see Keanu. Although Keanu’s just so nice. I think that would be fun.”
Ultimately, Star People doesn’t hand you answers—it leaves you drifting, wondering, aching a bit. But maybe that’s the point. As Paolo put it, “Most films are really hard to make. But even if they don’t always work out, if we’re going to go down, let’s go down trying to make something good.”
