It’s been a few weeks since we’ve heard anything regarding further casting for Quentin Tarantino’s Slave Era spaghetti Western, Django Unchained. Our last update involved Jamie Foxx getting cast as the lead character, Django. Now Deadline is reporting that Kevin Costner is “in talks” to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s henchman, Ace Woody, which frankly sounds more like the name of a character in Boogie Nights.
Perhaps Costner is looking to balance his good guy-bad guy roles in upcoming features. The 56-year-old actor has already been cast to play Joe Kent in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel Superman reboot.
Woody is described as, "a sadistic trainer of the male fighting slaves who entertain the white patrons of Candyland as well as the female slaves who are forced to be prostitutes." The club and resort are owned by Calvin Candie (DiCaprio) and Woody is the one who arranges the "mandingo" fighters against one another.
Tarantino has always had a gift for casting actors against type and even reviving careers, John Travolta’s Pulp Fiction turn being the most famous. While Costner’s career certainly isn’t in the pits, he’s nowhere near the box office draw he was during his Bodyguard-Dances with Wolves days. Could this movie be the catapult that launches Costner back to being a box office draw?
