James Hetfield has landed his first acting role. The Metallica frontman will star opposite Zac Efron in the upcoming biopic on serial killer Ted Bundy, titled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, which is currently in production.
Hetfield will play Officer Bob Hayward, the Utah highway patrol officer who first arrested Ted Bundy in 1975. The director of the film, Joe Berlinger, was a co-director on Metallica's 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster (our thoughts on that doc can be found here.) Berlinger also directed the Paradise Lost documentaries about the West Memphis Three to which Metallica licensed their music for free. So these two have a history.
UPDATE: The director posted the first photo of James on the set. Take a look here.
Metallica made the official announcement on their social media pages:
No rest for the wicked here as James spent a few of his days between tour dates in front of the camera once again for Academy-award nominated director Joe Berlinger as he filmed scenes for Joe's upcoming film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile.” The movie follows the relationship between notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, played by Zac Efron, and his longtime girlfriend, played by Lily Collins, who at the time, had no knowledge of the crimes.
James will be playing Officer Bob Hayward, a Utah highway patrol veteran who was the first law enforcement officer to arrest Bundy in 1975 after pulling the killer over and discovering burglary tools in his car but wisely suspecting much worse. While James has played himself in other films and television productions, this will be his first dramatic role taking on a different character.
'Tallica fans all know Joe Berlinger as the director and producer our very own “Some Kind of Monster” along with the late Bruce Sinofsky in 2004. There is not a release date for “Extremely Wicked…” yet, but we'll keep you updated here.
Berlinger commented to Deadline on the casting, saying:
“Having spent hundreds of hours behind the scenes with James and the rest of Metallica, I have experienced his charisma and powerful presence close up. It seemed only natural that he would bring that same power and magnetism to a dramatic role, so when he agreed to my pitch that he be in the movie, I was thrilled.”
The film is currently in production with no release date scheduled.
