Barry Pepper has a part in Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, once it finally begins filming. But before hopping in the saddle alongside Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, Pepper plans to shoot two additional pictures side-by-side, taking advantage of their Louisiana locations.

Pepper, according to Variety, has joined Allen Hughes’ detective noir Broken City, which stars Mark Wahlberg as a private eye investigating the cheating wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of a powerful political figure (Russell Crowe). Pepper reportedly will play a mayoral candidate running against Crowe’s character, who no doubt will use information Wahlberg digs up in order to swing the election in his direction.

Yet Pepper wisely plans on doubling down while shooting Broken City in New Orleans. Variety says he’s in final negotiations to join Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Snitch, Ric Roman Waugh’s drama-thriller who agrees to go undercover in a drug ring as part of a deal to get his teenage son off of a drug-related jail sentence. Snitch is filming in nearby Shreveport, allowing Pepper to double dip with ease.

Pepper’s been on a bit of a roll. He recently took home an Emmy for playing Bobby Kennedy in the otherwise-controversial The Kennedys on Starz. He also wrapped a part in Terrence Malick’s latest mysterious project, where he’ll act opposite Javier Bardem. But he’s such a reliable character actor that adding him to virtually any ensemble immediately improves the gathered cast (see the 25th Hour, Saving Private Ryan and the Coen Brothers’ True Grit for examples). Both Snitch and Broken City should be in theaters in 2012.