‘Masters of the Universe’ Star Camila Mendes Just Gave Us Our Best Look Yet at Her Mystery Role in Pete Davidson’s Mob Drama ‘Tommy Karate’

True crime dramas have a way of generating buzz long before a single trailer drops, especially when the cast attached brings together such an unexpected mix of comedic and dramatic talent. This particular production has spent the past few days doing exactly that, with each new batch of set photos adding another layer of intrigue to a film already generating plenty of conversation.

That momentum continued this week, as fans got their latest glimpse of one of the film’s key cast members stepping into character on location in New York.

Camila Mendes stunned on the set of ‘Tommy Karate’ in New York, spotted filming alongside Pete Davidson in Coney Island, Brooklyn, on August 26. Mendes wore a pink glittering halter-top dress paired with heels for the scene, offering fans their clearest look yet at her presence within the film’s 1970s-inspired world, even as her specific character remains officially undisclosed.

The crime thriller stars Davidson as Tommy Pitera, a real-life Bonanno crime family enforcer whose martial arts background earned him the nickname “Tommy Karate.” Convicted in 1992 of six murders tied to a Brooklyn drug operation, Pitera remains incarcerated at USP Big Sandy in Kentucky, and the film will chronicle the pursuit and eventual capture of the notorious mobster by DEA Agent Jim Hunt, played by Paul Walter Hauser.

Mendes’s presence on set comes amid a particularly striking transformation from her co-star, with Davidson debuting a dramatic new look for the role that includes a dark, longer wig parted down the middle, piercing blue contact lenses, and facial prosthetics. According to reporting from PEOPLE, Davidson’s evening look that same night grew even more dramatic, as he donned a satin jacket covered in fake blood and bruises for a separate scene.

Davidson has been developing ‘Tommy Karate’ for more than three years, co-writing the screenplay alongside director Justin Chon and Joseph Gay while also producing the film through his North.Five.Six banner. In a statement shared with Deadline back in March, Davidson called the project “the greatest mob story never told,” adding that landing the role felt like “a dream job” after years of pushing to get the film into production.

Chon, known for his work on “Pachinko,” has described the film’s approach as a deliberate departure from familiar gangster movie tropes, explaining that he and Davidson are aiming to reimagine the genre through a contemporary lens built around character depth and real consequence rather than nostalgia. Based on Philip Carlo’s non-fiction book “The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath,” the film is currently slated for a 2027 release.

Beyond Davidson, Mendes, and Hauser, the cast also includes Simon Rex, whose career saw a major resurgence following his acclaimed performance in Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket.” With Mendes coming off a busy stretch that includes “Masters of the Universe” and Guy Ritchie’s “Viva La Madness,” her involvement in “Tommy Karate” adds another notable credit to an already packed schedule.

Given the sheer amount of attention this production has generated in just the past few days alone, from Davidson’s unrecognizable transformation to Mendes’s own striking on-set appearance, “Tommy Karate” is shaping up to be one of the more closely watched crime dramas heading toward release.

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