Actor Kirby Howell-Baptiste has described her role as a "complete tornado" in the comedy-drama "Club Kid," a film centered on a New York club promoter facing life's responsibilities. Howell-Baptiste played Edison, a character described to her as a "massive party girl" who "never sleeps" and has "completely lost all social boundaries" due to a lifetime of drug use.
The character appears briefly about a quarter of the way into the film, arriving unannounced at the apartment of Peter, a nightclub promoter played by Jordan Firstman. Accompanied by 10-year-old Arlo, Edison reveals she has brought the child from the U.K. to live with Peter permanently. Despite Peter's assertion that he has never slept with a woman, Edison claims he had sex with her friend Leonine a decade prior while high on ketamine, cocaine, and GHB.
During the scene, Edison informs Peter that Leonine recently "tops herself," a term Howell-Baptiste admits she ad-libbed during filming. While the film celebrates queer culture, Howell-Baptiste noted that the British slang caused confusion on set because "topping" has a different meaning in that context. She kept the line in the final cut to add to the audience's confusion regarding the character's behavior.
Howell-Baptiste noted that while Edison is "absolutely bananas," she feels "quite real and quite relatable." The character is described as an "amalgamation of a few party people" Firstman has encountered. Even after leaving the apartment, the character's presence continues to be felt as Peter searches for her across New York, hearing reports of her being kicked out of various venues for simply being too much of a tornado to handle.
Howell-Baptiste, who had no idea who Firstman was when she was originally invited to audition in mid-2025, was cast by Carmen Cuba. She noted that the role seemed fun and she felt like she could channel that pretty well. To achieve the specific hoarse voice requested by Firstman, she modeled her performance after former Spice Girl Mel B.
The actress filmed her scenes in the fall of 2025 and moved on to other projects, including the series "Sherwood." She remained largely unaware of the film's success until her manager contacted her about the bidding war at Cannes, where A24 eventually won the rights for $17 million. Howell-Baptiste recently attended the premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, describing her experience of filming the role as a "complete vacuum" that resulted in a "pleasant surprise."
