Mary Elizabeth Winstead Joins 'Kill the Messenger'

After proving she was more than just another very pretty face in last year's alcoholism drama, Smashed, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is keeping her dance card full. Already having appeared in two movies in 2013, and with James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now on the way, she recently signed on for a pair of indie films. But her latest gig will take her far away from the art house and into a film with a subject matter that couldn't be more timely.

Deadline reports that Winstead has joined increasingly-awesome cast of Kill the Messenger, Michael Cuesta's film which has Jeremy Renner as journalist Gary Webb. The fact-based story centers on the CIA smear campaign launched against Webb after he exposed their connection to arms and drug trafficking with Contra rebels. Rosemarie DeWitt, Barry Pepper, and Paz Vega co-star, with Winstead playing the editor of the San Jose Mercury News where Webb worked.

Between Kill the Messenger and The Fifth Estate, whistleblower movies are all the rage. Winstead will also be seen later this year in the Sundance comedy, A.C.O.D.