Holt McCallany, the square-jawed star of FX’s recently cancelled boxing show Lights Out, has just been cast in Warner Bros. Gangster Squad. According to Deadline, McCallany will play gangster Mickey Cohen’s bodyguard and main enforcer.
McCallany joins an all-star cast that already includes Sean Penn as iconic gangster Mickey Cohen, as well as Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena, and Giovanni Ribisi. Gangster Squad is a L.A. crime drama set in the 1940s that chronicles an elite L.A.P.D. force that takes on organized crime bosses. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) will direct a script penned by Will Beall.
Looks like we’ll be seeing quite a bit of McCallany in the next year. He’s just finished filming an indie sci-fi called White Space and his tough-guy look is going to be well utilized in upcoming Sylvester Stallone pic Bullet to the Head (aka Headshot). He’s done plenty of TV over the last few years and it’s nice to see him landing so many film roles, as I think he’s a born actioner but boasts an acting range usually lacking among his ilk.