Maria Bakalova attends the MTV Movie & TV Awards at Barker Hangar on Sunday in Santa Monica, California. AFP

Plot details for the extraterrestrial film — a sequel to 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” — have been kept under wraps, per Marvel tradition. The upcoming movie is the 32nd entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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“Yes yes yes, okay, I guess I should be surprised it took you guys this long to get this one. “(Maria Bakalova) is incredible,” Gunn wrote on Monday morning on Twitter. Along with Bakalova, Will Poulter is also joining the cast as Adam Warlock. Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn and Sylvester Stallone round out the call sheet.

The 26-year-old Bakalova was plucked from obscurity to star in 2020’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Her high-wire performance as Sacha Baron Cohen’s down-for-anything daughter earned Bakalova an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. In addition to Academy Award recognition, the follow-up to 2006’s “Borat” made headlines for a scene involving Bakalova and Giuliani after Donald Trump’s former attorney was caught on camera in a comprising position.

Bakalova’s first big role after “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was playing a hotel clerk in Judd Apatow’s meta pandemic comedy “The Bubble,” which recently debuted on Netflix. Her upcoming credits also include slasher film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and rom-com “The Honeymoon.” Born and raised in Burgas, Bakalova began her career in Bulgarian cinema by starring in film productions while attending the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia.

Bakalova began singing lessons and playing the flute around age six. She expanded into acting at the age of 12, majoring in drama theatre and minoring in flute at the National School of Music and Stage Arts in Burgas. Bakalova later moved to Sofia where she majored in drama at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts.

She has credited filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, who taught the only film acting class at the Academy, for what she has learned about movies. Bakalova volunteered to help the directing duo with scheduling and other tasks, and travelled with them to the set of a film they were working on so that she could watch and learn.

 Agencies