A typically strong indicator of an inexperienced up-and-comer going places is landing a role in a high-profile film. It was something that happened with Mia Wasikowska a couple of years ago when the former “In Treatment” actress burst onto the scene with a trifecta of films, “Alice In Wonderland,” “Restless” and “The Kids Are All Right.”
Now, it looks like another apprentice of the excellent HBO series is headed down a similar path. Youngster Dane DeHaan, cast just months ago in John Hillcoat‘s “The Wettest County In the World” as the best friend of Shia LaBeouf‘s protagonist, now finds himself in the thick of another highly touted project, joining Derek Cianfrance‘s multi-generational family-drama “The Place Beyond the Pines.”
The actor’s casting also reveals a new, fascinating layer to Cianfrance’s ‘Godfather‘ meets ‘Deer Hunter‘ tale, as he is set to play the son of Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes who “gets caught up in a botched drug deal with the son of Bradley Cooper‘s character, a cop-turned-politician.” Will this see the cast undergo “Blue Valentine“-style aging? It’s kind of hard to picture the twenty-five year old DeHaan as the fully fledged criminal son of present-day, thirty-somethings Gosling and Mendes.
Topping things off are co-stars Greta Gerwig, who will play Cooper’s partner, Ben Mendelsohn as a friend of Gosling and Ray Liotta as a crooked cop, with Ali Mahershalalhasbaz and Gabe Fazio also involved in unknown roles. The Sidney Kimmel Entertainment-backed project begins shooting later this month and is produced by Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof with SKE’s Jim Tauber and Matt Berenson exec producing. [Variety]