Two of our fave grizzled actors have joined a couple of upcoming flicks, so read onward to see who will growl in what….
The last time we saw Chris Cooper he was rapping in "The Muppets," but he'll return to his more reliable dramatic form, coming on board "August: Osage County" with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, who basically have already made it Oprah's favorite movie of all time by their mere presence together. He joins the recently cast Andrea Riseborough in the an adaptation of Tracy Letts' ("Killer Joe," "Bug") Tony award-winning play about the relationship between a drug addicted family matriarch Violet (Streep) and her daughter Barbara Fordham (Roberts). The latter is reeling from the revelation that her husband is cheating on her, but the entire family comes together when the patriach of the clan goes missing, and dramatic things happen. Cooper will play Streep's brother in law, John Wells ("The Company Men") is directing, production starts in August and we'll see you at the Oscars in 2014.
Meanwhile, James Woods is set to bring his distinct energy to "White House Down" aka The Movie Where Channing Tatum Saves The United States. Running in direct competition with Antoine Fuqua's "Olympus Has Fallen" which starts shooting next week, this is also an action flick centered around an attack on the White House. Woods would play the head of the presidential detail and would join a cast that also includes Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Roland Emmerich directs so expect the explosions to be big and lack of nuance and subtley to be total. [Variety/Variety]