When your major debut thrusts you into the limelight the way that Tahar Rahim's turn in "A Prophet" did, it'd be easy to take the first big paycheck that comes along and run with it. But aside from his warrior in "The Eagle" (which, while it didn't turn out so well, at least looked more interesting on paper than most Hollywood fare), the French star has resisted the fast buck, preferring instead to work with international auteurs like Lou Ye, Ismael Ferroukhi and Jean-Jacques Annaud, a laudable position for an actor who's clearly much in demand.
And he's showing no sign of letting up. While the actor will next star in the French romance "Grand Central" opposite Lea Seydoux, he's just lined up another project, and it's with one of the most acclaimed directors in international cinema in recent years, with The Hollywood Reporter bringing news that Rahim will star in "The Cut," the latest from Fatih Akin. The German-Turkish helmer came to fame with his fourth film "Head-On," which won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2005, and followed-it up with the second of his so-called "Love, Death and the Devil" trilogy "The Edge of Heaven" in 2007, which picked up the Best Screenplay award at Cannes.
Akin dealt with (relatively) lighter fare last time out, with 2009's "Soul Kitchen," but "The Cut" will mark the final part of his trilogy, focusing on the evil inherent in mankind. There's no further details available at this point, but Rahim's a natural fit with Akin, and it's exciting to think that the two are pairing up. There's no timeline on the project as yet, but hopefully we'll see this at one of the major festivals some time in 2013.