Since his great turn back in The O.C. as Volchok in days gone by, Cam Gigandet has been getting some pretty great screen-time, even if some of his films haven’t found the recognition they deserve.

He was great in Never Back Down back in 2008, and had an entertaining part in last year’s Emma Stone-starrer Easy A (if you’re a John Hughes fan, I highly recommend this film), and starred alongside Paul Bettany in Priest this year, which I thought was much better than its box office takings reflect.

Variety are now reporting that Gigandet is set to join indie film, Free Ride, which is to be led by Anna Paquin, of True Blood/X-Men/The Piano fame – the last of which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

“Based on a true story, “Free Ride” finds Paquin playing an abused single mother who moves to Florida with her daughters amid the colorful yet turbulent culture of the late 1970s.”

Gigandet will be playing Paquin’s love interest – presumably, and hopefully, the one following the move, rather than the abusive father.

Relative newcomer Shana Sosin will be directing the film from her own script, and has also lined up a cast that includes Golden Globe-nominated actress Drea de Matteo (TV’s The Sopranos), Liana Liberato (the upcoming Trespass), and Paquin’s True Blood co-star, Brit Morgan.

Paquin will also be serving as one of the producers of the film, which is scheduled to begin production next Monday on 24th October. The project sounds like a solid indie film, and the cast sounds good to me, so Free Ride’s definitely got potential; hopefully it will be big enough to get a UK release. More news as we get it.