Jessica Alba to Star in Andy Tennant’s Film Inspired by Sex Toy Saleswoman

Director Andy Tennant is preparing The Fun Lady, a comedy starring Jessica Alba inspired by Arkansas saleswoman Linda Brewer’s success in the sex toy business. Produced by Highland Film Group and headed to AFM, the film is scheduled to begin production in early 2027. Alba is also producing through her company, Metalmark Entertainment.

Brewer’s story appeared in The New York Times Magazine in 2004, when she was 59. A high school dropout from Arkansas, she became one of the leading sellers for Passion Parties, a California company offering products including lingerie, erotic games, edible lotions and vibrators. Her sales reached as much as $140,000 in a year, while her work challenged taboos surrounding women’s sexual pleasure in the Bible Belt.

The film builds on that experience through Mora, played by Alba, whose seemingly ideal life collapses before she moves to her parents’ small Arkansas hometown. With few jobs available and gossip pervasive, she starts selling sex toys despite knowing little about pleasure and never having experienced an orgasm. Her initially awkward gatherings become popular events, opening conversations among women accustomed to concealing their dissatisfaction.

Tennant, whose credits include Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch, Fool’s Gold and The Bounty Hunter, told The Hollywood Reporter that Mark Steilen’s screenplay immediately appealed to him. Although he does not consider The Fun Lady a romantic comedy, he sees similarities with Sweet Home Alabama. The true story offered a way to examine relationships, sexuality and the constraints placed on women’s sexual identity.

He said Alba understood from their first conversation that the project needed more than easy jokes. Tennant pointed to her experience as an entrepreneur with The Honest Company and her serious engagement with the screenplay’s themes. Their discussions have included women’s sexuality and marriages shaped by selfish behavior, subjects he wants the comedy to address through its characters.

Brewer has died, Tennant confirmed, but she contributed extensively during the writing process. Steilen pursued the story and spoke with her repeatedly, according to the director. Brewer’s children remain eager to see the film made. Tennant also said the screenplay required unusually little revision compared with other projects he has been offered.

The filmmakers have worked to develop the other women attending the sales parties, giving them distinct relationships and concerns. Tennant hopes viewers will recognize experiences beyond those of Alba’s central character. Difficulty expressing personal wants and needs, he said, can affect relationships regardless of the period in which a story takes place.

On set, Tennant intends to give performers room to experiment, using preparation and individual conversations to understand their characters’ fears and uncertainties. Citing comedies such as Tootsie and the work of Sydney Pollack and Mike Nichols, he described an ambition to combine humor with emotional honesty. Beyond laughter, he hopes audiences leave considering their own relationships.