(Update 10/28 5:15 p.m. PST: An earlier version of this post said that "The Machinist" director Brad Anderson was attached to direct "The Family." It turns out that a journalist misinterpreted something Ryan Kwanten said at a press event, and instead, "The Machinst" screenwriter Scott Kosar will direct the film from his own screenplay, Kosar told Shock Till You Drop.)
"True Blood" star Ryan Kwanten is moving from vampires to a different breed of monster, as the actor revealed that he's been cast as cold-blooded killer Charles Manson in an upcoming film titled "The Family."
Kwanten broke the news at a press day for his latest movie, the Australian spaghetti western "Red Hill."
While the project is still in the early stages of development, the story will focus on Manson and the murders he committed with his followers, rather than track the notorious psycho from childhood to prison.
Hard to tell from his mostly shirtless "dumb-hick" role on "True Blood" if Kwanten has even half the chops necessary to play one of America's most feared, not mention charismatic boogeymen. But you have to admire his dramatic ambition.
Additionally, Kwanten told journalists that he's set to star in and produce the Australian film "The Twenty-Something Survival Guide," and he'll also appear in an upcoming adaptation of the satirical self-help book "The G Strategy."
Kwanten previously starred in James Wan's "Dead Silence" and recently voiced one of the characters in Zack Snyder's "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole." He's currently filming Joe Lynch's horror film "Knights of Badassdom."
Kwanten is represented by CAA and Orly Adelson Productions.
