Oscar-nominated actor Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children has signed up for a trio of projects in both the comedy and dramatic arenas.
First up is a role in the Will Ferrell basketball comedy Semi-Pro, which Kent Alterman is directing for New Line Cinema. Haley is playing a fan who wins a basketball-throwing contest.
Haley then will segue to the all-star ensemble drama Winged Creatures, being directed by Rowan Woods. Haley will join Kate Beckinsale, Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning and Guy Pearce, portraying an abusive husband and angry father.
Lastly, Haley will shoot Bolden! an indie drama directed by Dan Pritzker and produced by Wynton Marsalis, Ed Arrendell, Jon Cornick and Michele Tayler. The period biopic stars Anthony Mackie as Buddy Bolden, the first man of New Orleans jazz. Haley will portray a judge at the center of most of the lucrative but corrupt activities in New Orleans — notably brothels and Battles Royale, when black men were drugged and forced to fight one another before an all-white male audience.
