Christopher Nolan Eyes Unknown Actor Fionn Whitehead For His WWII Film DUNKIRK

Guy Pearce. Al Pacino. Christian Bale. Hugh Jackman. Leonardo DiCaprio. Matthew McConaughey. Fionn Whitehead.

One of those names is not like the others, and on the list of leading men in Christopher Nolan movies*, newcomer Whitehead sticks out like a sore thumb. But that's on purpose, as Nolan's been on the hunt for unknown talent to lead his new World War II film, Dunkirk. The Wrap reports that Whitehead is at the top of the director's list, though it's not 100% clear if the deal has officially been signed yet. If it goes through, Whitehead will play one of the two young leads in the movie, which has already cast Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, and Kenneth Branagh in supporting roles.

Nolan wrote the original screenplay, which was inspired by Operation Dynamo, a 1940 mission that freed over 300,000 Allied troops who were trapped by the Nazis in the French city of Dunkirk. The movie, which is being shot in 65mm and IMAX 65mm by Interstellar's Hoyte van Hoytema, will be filmed at the real locations where the actual operation took place in France, and is scheduled for release in theaters on July 21, 2017.

We don't know anything about Whitehead, who thus far only has in ITV's horror series Him, but looking at the careers of that list of leading men in Nolan movies, Dunkirk certainly bodes well for his future.

*I didn't include Jeremy Theobald, who starred in Following, because that was before Nolan was Nolan and his debut feature was shot on the weekends for $6,000, so it's not exactly comparable to those other films.