Today is a pretty damn good day for Sullivan Stapleton. Tonight Cinemax is premiering the first episode of Strike Back, an original series in which he's the central character, and now it's being reported by THR that he's in talks for one of the most star-studded movies currently in pre-production.
The trade says that Stapleton is currently negotiating for a part in Gangster Squad, the period crime film directed by Ruben Fleischer. Should he land the role, Stapleton will play a childhood friend of Ryan Gosling's character who grew up to become a mob enforcer, but redeems himself by becoming a police informant. Based on script by Will Beall, the film is set in the 1940s and 1950s when a squad of cops from the Los Angeles Police Department worked to get the East Coast mob influence out of southern California. In addition to Gosling, the film stars Sean Penn, as renowned gangster Mickey Cohen, Josh Brolin, Michael Pena, Emma Stone, Robert Patrick, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, Enos Marries, and more.
The more I hear about this cast the more curious I become about the plot. There has to be a reason why so many incredibly talented actors would want a piece of this, yes? More importantly, when I first learned about the script I was under the impression that it would be a tight drama with Gosling and Brolin facing off against Penn, but it seems that the film has blossomed into an ensemble piece. Either that or some seriously big names are taking smaller parts just to be involved.
