This bit of news seems to have been brewing for a bit — we were recently tipped by a reader that he was in the running for a role — but now it’s all official as Variety reports that Dennis Christopher has joined Quentin Tarantino‘s “Django Unchained.”
If you don’t know who Christopher is, then you need to watch some movies made before 1990. The actor is probably best known for his starmaking turn in Peter Yates‘ “Breaking Away” but has earned his stripes in movies like the cult horror/comedy “Fade To Black,” “California Dreaming,” “Don’t Cry It’s Only Thunder” and of course, “Chariots Of Fire.” But more recently he’s been doing stints on television in shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “The Lost Room” and of course, “Deadwood.” So where will he fit into ‘Django’? He’ll get to share some screen time with Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the villainous Calvin Candie, portraying Leo Moguy a lawyer who sets up a meeting between the slave-trader and the bounty hunter Schultz (Christoph Waltz). It’s not a terrible large role, with only a handful of scenes in the whole movie, but certainly the most high profile project Christopher has been involved with in years.
The actor will join an already extensive cast that includes “Deadwood” alum Gerald McRaney, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L Jackson and looking more likely each day, “The Wire” star, Michael K. Williams. Production is gearing up kick off for a (roughly) January to April shoot in New Orleans with a Christmas Day 2012 release date on the calendar. But there is still more casting to come for a handful of roles including Broomhilda, the woman who sets the story in motion.
