Baz Luhrmann has been lining up an impressive cast for his adaptation of The Great Gatsby, and now he’s locked in one of the last big key roles, hiring Jason Clarke to play George Wilson in the film.
Leonardo DiCaprio is aboard to play Jay Gatsby, the playboy at the centre of the film, with Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, an old friend of Gatsby’s who also acts as the story’s narrator. Then there’s Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), one half of a bored, rich, married couple who is cheating on his wife Daisy (Carey Mulligan). But then Daisy is also in love with Gatsby.
Wilson, of course, is the garage attendant married to Myrtle (Isla Fisher), the woman who is cheating on him with Tom. It’s George who ends up becoming a key, tragic plot point in the narrative’s climax.
Clarke has most recently been seen on US TV in cop drama The Chicago Code, which despite boasting The Shield’s Shawn Ryan as its executive producer, didn’t manage to survive more than one season. Before that, he was in the cast of Showtime drama Brotherhood, alongside Jason Isaacs. Film-wise, he just finished work on The Wettest Country In The World for John Hillcoat and The Fields alongside Sam Worthington. It looks like his career’s about to step up a gear...