Rosemarie DeWitt Joins Jeremy Renner in 'Kill the Messenger'

Although she first caught a lot of attention for her small role in Cinderella Man, it was Rosemarie DeWitt's quietly confident performance opposite Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married that was her true breakthrough. And she's made the most of it, dabbling in mainstream stuff like The Watch while starring roles in films like Your Sister's Sister help keep her art house cred. Now she's taking a major role in a film centers on a hot-button issue and might make some powerful people uncomfortable.

DeWitt has taken the female lead in Kill the Messenger, which has Jeremy Renner starring as San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb. After exposing a CIA scheme to arm Contra rebels in Nicaragua and import cocaine into California, he became the target of a smear campaign and ultimately committed suicide. It's unclear what DeWitt's role will be, but she joins the recently-signed Paz Vega who plays the girlfriend of a prominent drug dealer hoping Webb can help get him out of prison. With this whole Ed Snowden situation dominating the headlines, and the suspicious death of journalist Michael Hastings, whistleblowing is more of an issue than it ever has been before. So this film couldn't come at a more opportune time for producers.

Michael Cuesta (Homeland) is directing from a Peter Landesman script, which is based on Webb's book Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion and Nick Schou's Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb. DeWitt will be seen later this year in Lynn Shelton's Touchy Feely. [Deadline]