Some of us just started reading the script to Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” penned by Hossein Amini (“Killshot,” “The Four Feathers,” and the upcoming Jack Ryan reboot “Moscow”), but we will tell you, never in a million years did we see this coming.
Comedian Albert Brooks has been cast as the villain in Refn’s neo-noir thriller about a bored and unfulfilled stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) who, for additional thrills, doubles as a getaway driver by night. Carey Mulligan has already been cast as the love interest (Latino in the script, but that’s obviously been changed) and we assume that Bryan Cranston’s part is Gosling’s mentor in the picture (those seem to be the principal roles).
But Brooks as the villain? That insane and genius-stroke is by Refn, known for directing “The Pusher” trilogy and more recently “Bronson” (the film that is quickly making Tom Hardy a household name) and “Vahalla Rising.”
Deadline reports that Brooks will play “Bernie Rose, a transplanted New York mobster who comes to L.A. and is not to be messed with.” Brooks played wussy bad in Steven Soderbergh’s “Out Of Sight,” but that’s been…what? Twelve years now and it wasn’t exactly the film’s most memorable role (that distinction is still held by Jennifer Lopez; what happened JLo?).
Either way, it’s a nice casting twist and one that we should expect from Refn (this will be his first Hollywood venture, but he’s dabbled a lot with Harrison Ford and Keanu Reeves-lead projects that fell through). “Drive” and its L.A.-scheduled shoot should start sometime in mid September (Sept 20 was the last date of intel).