Australian actor Jason Clarke is, according to Variety, the latest addition to John Hillcoat‘s gestating adaptation of Matt Bondurant‘s “The Wettest County In The World” which currently has the interesting pair of Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy as two of three leading brothers.
Clarke has slowly been growing in stature lately with roles in Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and the upcoming film by Ami Canaan Mann, “The Fields,” but his biggest break yet came when he was recently cast as the lead in Shawn Ryan‘s (“The Shield,” “Terriers“) latest television foray, “The Chicago Code.” No word just yet on who Clarke will be playing in Hillcoat’s latest but considering the project previously attracted the likes of Michael Shannon, Ryan GoslingPaul Dano, we’d be surprised (with all due respect) if it’s the coveted part of the middle brother.
Also on board is rising actress Jessica Chastain who was revealed to be filling the shoes of Hardy’s love interest, a role linked to Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson in the earlier iteration of the production. Fellow up-and-comer Mia Wasikowska is reported to be circling a role but Variety once again affirms that she’s holding off negotiations in an attempt to reconcile a scheduling conflict with another project she’s attached to: “Stoker,” the Wentworth Miller-scribed fantastical, fairytale-like family drama. If things work out, she’ll likely be taking on the role of LaBeouf’s love interest.
The Bondurant story, of course, follows “three brothers— Forrest, Howard and Jack in order of age and toughness — who run a bootlegging gang during Prohibition whose moonshine dynasty in Franklin County, Virginia is threatened by the authorities wanting a cut.” Our script review called it “remarkable, vivid and tactile” and noted that, unlike glossy gangster films like “Public Enemies,” the film depicts “shack-living extreme poverty in Virginia” with protagonists who “are overall-wearing, Southern hicks essentially (and massive drunks).”
Can you tell we’re excited for this? Also, after all the big names that were linked to the first version of the talent roster, surely we’re in for some sensational casting? The ‘Wettest County’ script comes courtesy of musician Nick Cave, with the production scheduled to go in front of cameras next month.
