Aaron Johnson unites with Nicolas Cage for Kick-Ass
Story by Jack Foley
FRESH from his success in Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging, young British actor Aaron Johnson has landed a plumb role alongside Nicolas Cage in a violent new comic book adaptation.
Kick-Ass is based on the work of Mark Millar and is being directed by Matthew Vaughn, of Layer Cake and Stardust fame.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson will play the lead role of Dave Lizewski, a “high school dweeb” who decides to become a superhero even though he has no athletic ability or co-ordination. Things change when he eventually runs into real bad guys with real weapons.
Cage will play a former cop who wants to bring down a drug lord, who has trained his daughter (Chloe Moretz) to be a lethal weapon, while Lyndsy Fonseca has been cast as the object of Dave’s affections. Superbad‘s Christopher Mintz-Plasse is also among the cast.
Vaughn and Marvel Films partner Kris Thykier are to produce the film themselves, having secured independent financing, because many studios have apparently balked at the bloody nature of the project.
Filming will take place between London and Toronto. Read our Angus, Thongs interview with Aaron Johnson