The Expendables is being hailed as an action extravaganza that will bring back the old kickass genre with some old kickass stars, but it will also blend in the new generation. Now we hear that Forest Whitaker has been approached as well!
Sylvester Stallone is in talks with Academy Award winning actor Forst Whitaker to be in his newest film THE EXPENDABLES.
Whitaker is said to play a CIA liason for the group of mercenaries that includes Stallone, Jet Li, Randy Couture and Jason Statham.
This lineup just oozes of some hardcore action in the making.
Its not like the action genre has been forgotten, but the stand out stars that embodied action like VanDamme, Stallone and schwarzenegger just don’t exist anymore. So this next generation has no iconic action stars to fall back on and we are forced to endure professional wrestlers that call themselves actors. I am not saying that the action stars of old were master thespians, but I just don’t buy many pro wrestlers as “real” actors any more than I qualify most soap stars as big screen worth either (clearly there are exceptions). I don’t mind wrestlers in supporting roles or cameos, but not as the lead.
So not long ago we predicted that Jason Statham would rise to the challenge and be the next big action star and maybe Expendables will be passing the torch.
It is nice however to see them placing such popular and capable personalities like Randy Couture in a supporting role, but also to season out the film they will hopefully introduce an Oscar winning actor like Forest Whitaker too.
This is shaping up to be a well rounded piece and I hope this truly passes the torch to Statham to kick ass for another generation.
Hes a good fit, he could ground this with some good character acting, and also could convincingly fit in with all the action guys.