It’s finally happening. RED STATE is going to be made. After years of promising us a horror film, Kevin Smith is finally ready to bring the pain as his religious thriller gets underway at the end of August in L.A. The real news, however, is that it has nabbed its first actor: Michael Parks.
Fans of Quentin Tarantino flicks will instantly recognize the actor. He played Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in five of QT’s films – arguably the most memorable appearance coming in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (pictured above), in which the actor gives a hilarious diatribe before being blown away in the film’s first five minutes. That said, Parks has been around forever, appearing in over 130 t.v. shows and movies. I think my personal favorite turn of his comes in DEATH WISH V, where he plays an unhinged Mafia boss. The guy is “sinister” personified.
This is actually really cool casting, as Parks has always been best known as a supporting character; in RED STATE, he’ll evidently be playing the film’s lead villain, an fire-and-brimstone preacher based on the fanatical Baptist Fred Phelps. I can absolutely picture Parks chewing the scenery wholesale as this kind of loon, so you can now consider me a bit more interested in Smith’s genre flick.
Shooting on RED STATE begins on AUGUST 30th in L.A., so expect more casting news real soon.
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