Even though the release date is just over six months away, shooting is still ongoing for “X-Men: First Class” and casting too. Speaking with IGN, longtime character actor (aka “Hey, it’s that guy!”) Ray Wise, best known for his turns in “Robocop” and “Twin Peaks,” revealed that he has joined the cast of superhero film.
He told the site, “I’m playing the Secretary of State of the United States. I’ll be going over there in the next couple of weeks.” Ok, so it’s not the most Earth-shattering news in the world but hey, it’s something. And it’s one less step in the Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon game to link him to David Lynch. But while the part sounds like a faceless government type, could he possibly be playing Henry Gyrich? He’s the State department type that featured in “X-Men” who was played by Matthew Sharpe (and ended up being killed offscreen).
‘First Class’ will track the early relationship between Lensherr and Charles Xavier— to be played by the talented duo of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy — and their maturation into becoming Magneto and Prof. X, while following the mutant movement as they face the threat of the Hellfire Club, led by Kevin Bacon‘s Sebastien Shaw. A plethora of talent is already on board including the likes of (deep breath) January Jones (Emma Frost), Oliver Platt (Man In Black), Caleb Landry (Phoenix), Lucas Till (Havoc), Edi Gathegi (Darwin), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), Zoe Kravitz (Angel), Bill Milner (young Magneto), Morgan Lily (young Mystique), Alex Gonzalez (Riptide) and Laurence Belcher (young Prof. X).
The Matthew Vaughn-directed, Bryan Singer-produced film will hit theaters on June 3, 2011.
