Chris O’Dowd has joined the cast of ‘Molly’s Game’.
The 37-year-old actor has signed up to star in the drama, with Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, and Graham Greene also confirmed as new additions to the project.
Chris and the other actors announced will join an already star-studded cast, including the likes of Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, and Michael Cera.
‘Molly’s Game’ marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, and is adapted from the memoir by Molly Bloom, entitled ‘Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker’.
The story follows Molly (Chastain), a skier who heads to Los Angeles to become a cocktail waitress after her Olympic dreams are dashed.
There, she rises through the social ranks to become an organiser of underground poker games for the Hollywood elite, but when a Russian mob connection surfaces, the FBI moves in and the game is over.
The movie focuses on her relationship with her criminal defence lawyer (Elba), who realises there’s much more to Molly than meets the eye.
Chris will play the role of the man who introduces Molly to the Russians, whilst Bill will be a card shark who racks up a huge debt, and Graham is playing a judge.
Producer Mark Gordon previously said of the film: "[The story is] a very human story … It’s a character piece, it’s the people in her life, it’s her transformation of going from a young woman who was just about to go to law school who got sucked up into this wonderful, horrible opportunity of running this card game in Los Angeles."
Filming is currently underway for the project, and although no release date has been set for the feature, it is expected to be released next year.