Scoot McNairy is on a hell of a run at the moment. The star of "In Search Of A Midnight Kiss" finally turned heads in a big way with Gareth Edwards' 2010 low-budget spectacular "Monsters," and ever since then he's been the toast of the town: he met for roles in "Prometheus" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," but ended up going down more grounded routes, with parts in Ben Affleck's "Argo"; in Gus Van Sant's "Promised Land" with Matt Damon; in Lynn Shelton's "Touchy Feely"; and in Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly," for which McNairy earned rave reviews at Cannes this morning (read ours right here).
And clearly, he impressed his co-star in that film, Brad Pitt. The megastar is gearing up to produce and play a supporting role in "Twelve Years A Slave," directed by "Shame" helmer Steve McQueen, and according to Variety, he's bringing along McNairy, with the actor set to play a circus employee responsible for the kidnap of a free African-American man (to be played by the great Chiwetel Ejiofor), who ends up in slavery for the decade-and-a-bit of the title.
He's not the only new addition, either: Irish actress Ruth Negga ("Misfits," "Breakfast On Pluto") has also joined the cast, playing a runaway slave. The latest arrivals join Ejiofor, Pitt, McQueen's "Hunger" and "Shame" star Michael Fassbender, Adepero Oduye from "Pariah" and, as of yesterday, "There Will Be Blood" star Paul Dano, who'll play a brutal slave owner. The cast here just keeps getting more and more impressive, and in the hands of McQueen (who co-wrote the script with "Three Kings" co-writer John Ridley), it should be something very, very special. Filming starts at the end of next month, and we'll likely see this at Cannes or Venice in 2013 ahead of an Oscar-season release.
