If you aren't familiar with the name Dane DeHaan, by the end of 2012, you will be. The rising actor has three buzzy worthy projects on his slate this year: this weekend's found footage teen superhero pic "Chronicle" (go see it); John Hillcoat's highly anticipated "The Wettest County" and the Derek Cianfrance/Ryan Gosling bro-tacular reteam "The Place Beyond The Pines." Not a bad lineup at all. While there is still no word on a release date for the latter film, some kind of festival appearance seems likely (perhaps Cannes) and talking with Vulture, DeHaan revealed a few more details about the film.
When he was cast in the picture last summer it was said that he would be playing Ryan Gosling's son, which seemed odd considering the two are only seven years apart. We weren't quite sure how that would play out, but DeHaan has outlined what the structure of the film will be. "I play Ryan Gosling’s son. It’s a generational story, so essentially the first third of the movie is really all about Ryan, and then the last third of the movie takes place eighteen or nineteen years after Ryan’s part of the story. And it’s about a son that he had during his part of the story," DeHaan explains.
Of course, how this feud unfolds is what we're still awaiting to find out. Co-starring Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Ray Liotta, Max Martini and Emory Cohen, the story centers on Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider who turns to robbing banks to support his son, but winds up crossing paths with a police officer-turned-politician (Cooper), kicking off a battle that will also include their sons (Cohen and DeHaan) who are mixed up in a clash of their own. Damn.
With the film being compared in tone to the "The Godfather" and "The Deer Hunter," expectations are very high for "The Place Beyond The Pines." Just as they are for 'Wettest County,' and DeHaan pulls back the curtain a bit on his role. "I play a character named Cricket Pate. He’s a young guy with rickets, which means the bones in his legs are a little misshapen because of a lack of vitamin D. He fixes up cars and is a bit of mechanical genius. He’s the best friend to Shia [LaBeouf]’s character, and together they scheme and get into all sort of trouble selling moonshine and that kind of thing," he explains.
Of course, that film sees him starring alongside an insanely great cast including Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce in the Prohibition era tale about a bootlegging band of brothers. DeHaan has been rubbing shoulders with great folks lately. "The Wettest County" arrives on August 31st.