Hard to believe after the last week or so, but “Captain America” isn’t the only film that’s had problems nailing down its principles. “The Tourist” saw Tom Cruise, Sam Worthington, Charlize Theron and directors Bharat Nalluri and Alfonso Cuaron pass through the revolving doors, until “The Lives of Others” director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, who’d already left the project once, finally settled in the director’s chair, with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie taking the lead roles. Now that everything’s set, and the film’s finally underway, word of a supporting cast has started to appear.
Variety reports that Paul Bettany and Rufus Sewell have joined the project in unknown roles (although IMDB lists Sewell, imaginatively, as “English man” — a set photo of the actor can be seen above). The plot for the Hitchcockian thriller follows an American tourist in Europe who’s lured into a plot by a female Interpol agent (we’re trying to remain deliberately vague here, the story takes plenty of twists and turns, most of which will probably be given away by the first teaser trailer).
We’re big fans of Bettany, and pleased to see him in something a little classier than the Screen Gems action/horror dreck he seems to be stuck in at present. Sewell, meanwhile, is a fine actor (his stage performance in Tom Stoppard’s “Rock N Roll” was outstanding), but too often gets caught in thankless villain roles (“The Legend of Zorro,” “The Illusionist”). Hopefully, working with Von Donnersmarck will give both thesps an opportunity to stretch their acting muscles a little more.
