While Cuba Gooding Jr. has added executive producer to his CV in recent years, he's now taking another step in his career, directing his first movie. The actor has kicked off work on Louisiana Caviar, in which he stars alongside Richard Dreyfuss and Famke Janssen.
The story follows several people who turn to doing bad things in moments of desperation, with the experience changing their lives. Gooding Jr. is playing a boxer in the twilight of his career, Dreyfuss will be a man who works at an alligator farm and slaughterhouse and Janssen is set to appear as a lesbian photographer caught up in a dangerous situation with a young woman.
Originally just attached as an actor, Gooding Jr. actually pitched a new take on the script, originated by Eitan Gorlan. Once the original director dropped out, he leapt at the chance to direct the low-budget drama. "They’ve let me direct, and write this script and I got final cut and locked in Richard Dreyfuss and Famke Janssen and we’ve been able to surround them with all these great young people and I’m blown away with how quickly this has come together," Gooding Jr. tells Deadline. The cameras are rolling now in New Orleans.