Chris Cooper has delivered a number of great performances over the course of his career, among which are roles in A Time To Kill ("You turn him loose!") and American Beauty. In fact, his portrayal of Colonel Frank Fitts in the 1999 Academy Award winning film was so chilling that I'm certain that seeing his face will forever trigger a brief and haunting flashback of the sight of him standing out in the rain, staring into Kevin Spacey's garage. He's done great work since then, with roles in films like Adaptation., Seabiscuit and John Wells' The Company Men, the latter of which brings us closer to the topic at hand.
Since the 2010 drama, writer/director John Wells has moved on to television, with Showtime's Shameless among his recent credits. But he's returning to film for the feature adaptation of Tracy Letts' stage-play August: Osage County, and now it appears Cooper will re-team with the director by joining the cast.
Variety posted the news today, stating that Cooper is joining the cast of the Weinstein Company's upcoming August: Osage County. Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts are already on board to star in the picture, which focuses on the Weston family, a group of people who have to get past their personal differences when the alcoholic husband of Streep's character goes missing. Cooper has signed on to play Streep's brother-in-law.
With Streep and Roberts already on board, Cooper's casting is one more especially talented actor added to the growing list. Factor in the Pulitzer Prize winning source material (the play won the award for drama in 2008) and this project, which is expected to go into production this August, the film certainly has a lot going for it already.
