Model Citizen star Emmanuelle Chriqui spoke with ComingSoon’s Tyler Treese about her new sci-fi movie. Chriqui spoke about working with Aaron Eckhart, its themes, and reminisced about her stint on The O.C. opposite Olivia Wilde. Model Citizen is out on Digital on November 3, 2026, and will become available on DVD on November 17, 2026.
“With his memories gone and his past a blur, ex-cop Steven Bay seeks treatment for his amnesia while working on an isolated farm. Instead, he’s met with rising hostility, strange surveillance, and instincts he can’t fully control. When the pressure becomes unbearable, Bay begins a desperate hunt for the truth behind his fractured reality,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Model Citizen has so many interesting themes to it. This idea of being able to control people’s behavior and emotions, for the better or not, is such a dangerous rabbit hole to be going down. What really interested you in this core concept of the film?
Emmanuelle Chriqui: Oh, all of that. I think the idea of just, who are we without our memories? And can you fundamentally change who you are? I think it’s just such a wild question, and that really intrigued me when I read the script.
Then also, just the plot of the story, that it feels as though it’s a game within a game, right? You’re living this, but then there are all these tests that are underneath it. It was a trip. I was very intrigued after reading the script.
I was really interested in how it was working with Aaron Eckhart here because he kind of turns off his charm. There’s this blank slate quality to him early on because he doesn’t have his memories. How is it acting off him being this blank slate?
Oh, totally. Listen, working with him was incredible, and it definitely fed both of our storylines. My character also knew what she was dealing with when she first meets him.
So the evolution of that relationship is what’s so interesting. He starts to melt a little bit and starts to maybe trust her a little bit. And at the same time, she starts to feel protective of him and starts to question this government experiment that she very much believed in, but it’s getting a bit shady.
So listen, working with Aaron is an absolute thrill. The guy is amazing. And it was really fun to carve out what our journey was going to be. Every time we had a scene, just talking about it and blocking it out, and how should it feel? It was just a very easy creative flow and a real thrill.
I’m a gigantic fan of The O.C. There’s so much talent on that show. You’re a guest on two episodes, but you’re working with Olivia Wilde. You played her ex on the show. What stood out about getting to do that show and working with Olivia early on?
Emmanuelle Chriqui: Oh my gosh, it was so cool. At the time, The O.C. was a big deal. And it was interesting because at the time, nobody really knew Olivia yet when she did The O.C.
But I’ll tell you, I remember working with her, and I remember people on set working with her being like, “This girl is amazing. Wow.” She had such a presence about her. And it’s just not at all shocking that she has had the career she’s had. She was phenomenal then, and she’s even more phenomenal now.
Thanks to Emmanuelle Chriqui for taking the time to talk about Model Citizen.
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