Vanessa Kirby was photographed sprinting, tackling and firing in a series of high‑intensity action sequences while filming Liminal in Brooklyn on Tuesday, May 26.
Cameras on set captured Kirby in a black bodysuit and dark jumpsuit—set photos also showed her with brown‑colored hair—running through multiple scenes and, in one cut, positioned on top of another actor as if she had just taken him down. Several stills appeared to show co-star Yahya Abdul‑Mateen II restraining her during an action sequence; he was seen in a gray jacket layered over a red jacket, brown pants, sunglasses and carrying a large backpack.
The shoot in Brooklyn produced multiple action beats: sprinting, physical contact and what the set photos suggested were choreographed takedowns. Other images from the day showed Kirby wielding a gun and moving through the scenes at speed, underlining that the part demands sustained physical performance.
Those scenes come as Liminal, adapted from the graphic novel Telepaths, prepares to move from page to screen. The source material centers on a world where a tenth of the population suddenly gains telepathic powers after an electromagnetic disturbance. Apple Studios has greenlit the project, with Louis Leterrier directing and Justin Rhodes writing the screenplay; filming in New York kicked off earlier this month and an official release date has not yet been announced.
The contrast between Liminal’s speculative premise—people suddenly becoming telepathic—and the visceral, physical filmmaking caught on May 26 is striking. The core drama of the original Telepaths mini‑series focuses on newly telepathic civilians and the police officers who must manage the fallout; yet the set photos emphasize close‑quarters struggle and kinetic movement as much as any psychic showdown.
Yahya Abdul‑Mateen II’s wardrobe and posture in the pictures reinforced that impression. Rather than costuming that reads as purely science‑fictional, he was filmed in layered, everyday clothing and sunglasses while carrying a large pack, suggesting the production is grounding its extraordinary premise in familiar, gritty visuals. That choice could steer Liminal toward a more physical, grounded thriller even as it rests on an extraordinary premise.
For Kirby, the shoot underscores a busy calendar. She is already slated to return to the Marvel universe as Sue Storm in Avengers: Doomsday, currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 19. Liminal therefore arrives as another major, high‑profile assignment that will test a very different set of skills: not the superhero role she will reprise later this year, but one that so far appears to demand close‑quarters physical acting and fast, kinetic sequences.
What matters now is how those pieces will be put together on screen. The production is clearly investing in physical staging for Liminal’s sequences even as the story’s engine remains telepathy and societal upheaval. If the Brooklyn footage is any guide, the film will mix intimate, physical confrontation with the speculative conceit that a tenth of the population suddenly speaks without words—a blend that will determine whether Liminal reads as a grounded thriller or a high‑concept speculative drama.
On the evidence of the May 26 shoot, Vanessa Kirby is committed to the physical side of that gamble: she is sprinting, tackling and shooting in scenes that sell danger without ever showing the low‑key, explanatory effects that telepathy might require. That suggests Liminal will lean into immediate, human conflict first and telepathic theory second—an approach that will either sharpen the film’s tension or underplay the original graphic novel’s central idea. Either way, Kirby’s performance on set shows she is treating the material as a physical, actor‑led thriller rather than a purely effects‑driven spectacle.
