And here we thought Michael Bay was really, truly going to do something different with Pain And Gain. But nope, he’s succumbed to one of his favourite old habits, casting Israeli supermodel Bar Paly in the based-on-truth crime comedy drama, along with Tony Shalhoub.
The film, as you’ll likely know, stars Mark Wahlberg as Daniel Lugo and Dwayne Johnson as Adrian Doorbal, who hatched a hackneyed extortion and kidnapping ring in Florida. Paly is signing on to play Sabina Petrescu, an illegal immigrant and former beauty queen who hopes to become the next Marilyn Monroe and catches Lugo’s eye along the way.
Shalhoub will be Marc Schiller, the man that Lugo and Doorbal target as part of their kidnapping attempt. Bay has also rounded up Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie and Rob Corddry for the film, which he’s now preparing to shoot based on Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script.
Shalhoub, of course, has a healthy credit list, but was last featured returning as the voice of Luigi in Cars 2. He’ll next be seen in Movie 43. Paly, unlike some of her supermodel counterparts, actually has a little bit of acting experience under her belt, with US telly miniseries The Starter Wife and movies The Ruins and Stiletto on her CV. She’s also just worked on Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charlie Swan III opposite Charlie Sheen and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.