Tristan Wilds
Tristan Wilds, currently on 90210, has been cast in the long-gestating Red Tails, a true tale of an all-black squad of escort pilots during World War II. George Lucas is executive producing, and has been trying to get this off the ground for ages. But back to Tristan Wilds, I can’t say I have seen even a minute of 90210 but he really impressed me during his run in the fourth and fifth seasons of The Wire as Michael. I can’t help but suspect that 90210 is way beneath him, and it’d be something to see him shine again, this time on the big screen. Plus, Red Tails is being directed by Anthony Hemingway who was an assistant director on The Wire for several seasons before directing two episodes that featured Wilds. If IMDb is to be believed, a few other veterans of The Wire are in the cast, too, including Andre Royo (Bubbles), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Method Man (Cheese), Edwina Findley (Tosha) and Stacie Davis (Ms. Duquette). And for even more awesome HBO cred, there’s Lee Tergesen of Oz and Generation Kill, not to mention a million other television shows.
It may be yet another World War II film, but the cast makes me damned interested. Maybe something other than The Pacific can tackle that era and grab my attention after Band of Brothers raised the bar ridiculously high for war stories.
Red Tails is apparently heading into production in Prague within the month.
Update: Before the night is out yet another actor from The Wire has joined the cast, with Rick Otto coming aboard. He played Officer Dozerman.
