Matthew McConaughey seems to have allowed himself to settle into a rut lately. By-the-numbers rom-coms such as Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and The Wedding Planner have all served to blight the memory of some genuinely varied and successful character work in Frailty, Amistad, A Time to Kill and Lone Star.
Now, Bleeding Cool have a scoop on a new role for McConaughey in “Killer Joe”, a black comedy from director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist, Rules of Engagement), which looks like being a welcome departure from McConaughey’s said rut.
According to THR, the plot centres around a brother (played by Emile Hirsch) and sister who plot the murder of their mother for an insurance payout. Although Bleeding Cool speculate on McConaughey playing the father of the murderous siblings, THR say he is in line to play the eponymous Joe Cooper, a cop and contract killer hired to do the deadly deed.
To be honest and perhaps like many people, I have grown a little tired of seeing McConaughey trot out predictable romantic comedy roles, relying too heavily on his shiny white smile and endearing southern drawl. When he has stepped outside his rom-com niche, as with the earlier work listed above, the results have been fantastic and it would be great to see him try his hand again at a less clichéd role.
Filming is due to start on November 8th in and around New Orleans, working from a script by Tracy Letts. Letts is a Pulitzer-Prize and Tony award winning writer and previously worked with director William Friedkin on his paranoid infection drama, Bug. We will bring you further casting news and hopefully some on set shots, in due course.
What do you think? Had enough of McConaughey, or keen to see him try to spread his wings? Let us know below.
