Michael Pena is one of those actors that has never been beholden to genre, his filmography a mix of both drama and comedy. This year alone he has starred in The Lincoln Lawyer and Battle: Los Angeles (two movies where there aren't too many laughs) and will be closing it out with 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist (two films we hope help us bust a gut). Director Reuben Fleischer is now planning to utilize that flexibility.
THR reports that Pena has joined Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling in Fleischer's Gangster Squad. The film will be the actor's second time working with the director, having completed filming of 30 Minutes or Less last year. Written by Paul Lieberman, the film tells the story of 1940s Los Angeles when LAPD Sgt. John O'Mara (Brolin) selected a group of other officers to fight corruption and the power held over the city by gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn). Pena will play an officer in O'Mara's squad that believes he has something to prove to the others.
Considering this is Fleischer's first trip into drama after two straight comedies I wonder if Pena will have any advice to give. Then again, when you have Penn, Gosling and Brolin on staff, you are exactly lacking in gravitas.
