While every actor in Hollywood wants to be a leading man or woman, there is definitely an added benefit to being a character actor. While being a lead can tie up your schedule and enforce the need to be very careful about the projects you choose, being a character actor you have the opportunity to play smaller roles in a wide variety of cool and interesting projects. Take, for example, John Leguizamo, who is now getting the chance to be in both a superhero movie and a hardcore drama from one of film's most celebrated directors.
Deadline says that Leguizamo has signed on for roles in both Kick-Ass 2 and Ridley Scott's The Counselor. In the first film, which is being written and directed by Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf), he will play a man named Javier, who serves as the lead bodyguard of Red Mist, the film's central villain. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is set to reprise the role while Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage are set to return as the titular hero, Hit Girl, and Big Daddy, respectively. Mintz-Plasse said earlier this month that production on the movie would start in September.
As for The Counselor, which is based on an original screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, Leguizamo will play a "low-level drug dealer." The film is about a lawyer living on the Texas border who tries to dip his toe into the drug game to try and make a little extra money on the side. Unfortunately he gets sucked in too deep and finds himself needing to fight to survive. Michael Fassbender will play the lawyer, while the rest of the cast includes Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Dean Norris and Rosie Perez.
