Kevin Smith has been threatening to make his horror/satire/religious fervour flick Red State for a few years now. But only in the last months, since he secured financing for it, has the film started to emerge from the rumour fog to actual reality. And it took a step further at Comic-Con over the weekend as Smith revealed that Michael Parks has snagged a starring role.
Parks might not exactly be a mainstream household name, but he’s been working solidly as a character actor for years, cropping up in the films of Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez, where he plays the same character across several titles, Earl McGraw. He’s also been seen in the likes of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
While few details are available on exactly Parks will be playing, chances are he’ll be the preacher behind the film’s controversial group, a take on the Westboro Baptist Church, best known for picketing soldiers’ funerals and railing against the evils of homosexual sin.
Incidentally, the Westboro types turned their attention on Comic-Con this year, but if they thought that military families were tough, they’d clearly never met cosplayers and geeks, who turned out in force with their own counter demonstration and variety of hilarious signs. Joss is God, anyone?
**Red State **is set to shoot later this year.