Thesps ready to ‘Snitch’

Trio of actors join Summit action thriller By JEFF SNEIDER Variety Melina Kanakaredes, Rafi Gavron and Nadine Velazquez have signed on to round out the cast of Ric Roman Waugh’s action thriller “Snitch,” which is a co-production between Exclusive Media Group, Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi that will be released in the U.S. by Summit Entertainment. Inspired by true events, “Snitch” stars Dwayne Johnson as a suburban father who’s forced to risk his life and become an informant for the DEA in order to reduce his wrongly-accused son’s 10-year jail sentence. Susan Sarandon, Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal and Michael K. Williams co-star. Gavron will play Johnson’s son, while Velazquez and Kanakaredes will play his wife and ex-wife, respectively. Johnson will produce the film with Dany Garcia and David Fanning, as well as Exclusive, Participant and Imagenation Abu Dhabi. Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”) wrote the script and will exec produce the pic, which starts shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana next month. Waugh performed a rewrite and is also expected to receive a writing credit. Kanakaredes rose to prominence on NBC’s “Providence” and went on to star alongside Gary Sinise on “CSI: NY.” She recently played Athena in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” Gavron, who next stars alongside Henry Cavill and Bruce Willis in Summit’s thriller “The Cold Light of Day,” got his start playing a teenage burglar in Anthony Minghella’s “Breaking and Entering.” Thesp recently appeared in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and will soon be seen in the indie “Celeste and Jesse Forever” as well as on NBC’s “Parenthood.” Velazquez starred on NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” and can currently be seen on FX’s “The League.” Gavron is repped by ICM, Affirmative Entertainment and Emptage Hallett, while WME reps Kanakaredes. Velazquez is repped by Gersh and Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118046219