The script has been generating a bit of a buzz with all the right people, but the first actor to actually sign on for Yaron Zilberman's The Late Quartet is Ethan Hawke.
The indie drama will see Hawke play second violinist in the titular string ensemble: a group who've been performing together for a quarter of a century, but are suddenly forced to adapt when one of their number develops Parkinson's disease.
If that weren't enough drama for Hawke to sink his teeth into, there's also a plot thread that sees him, according to Variety, embarking on an affair with his jogging partner, because of his desire for more solos. Quite how those two things are connected isn't clear: it's a bit like saying Empire's desire for more exclusives has led us to have an affair with our swimming coach. Does not compute. But we're sure all will be explained in due course.
Hawke's been busy lately. He directed a play off-Broadway, just finished shooting The Woman in the Fifth, and will go back to the theatre after A Late Quartet before starting filming on The Numbers Station. And then there's always Richard Linklater's twelve-years-in-the-making Boyhood. When's he going to find time to write his next novel?