Orlando Bloom is set to star in Killer Joe this summer at Trafalgar Studios

Posted on 26 March 2018

Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom has officially been confirmed to lead the cast of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe this May. He will be starring as Joe Cooper, a policeman by day and a hired assassin by night.

In response to landing the role, Bloom was reported as saying that he has always been looking for opportunities to return to the London stage and he reveled at the idea of being back in the centre of his homeland. The actor was born in Canterbury, Kent but currently resides in Los Angeles. He is most famous for portraying Legolas in both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy and Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Killer Joe follows the Smith family as they hire policeman slash hitman Joe Cooper to murder their estranged mother for her life insurance money. As Orlando Bloom put it, "It's [Killer Joe] an interesting comment on a disenfranchised view of the American dream."

This 1993 black comedy is directed by Simon Evans (The Best Man at the Playhouse Theatre, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Donmar Warehouse) and will run at Trafalgar Studios from 18 May 2018 to 18 August 2018.

Killer Joe spawned a film adaptation featuring Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey in the lead role and was widely popular amongst critics. The film ran at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

Other plays by Tracy Letts include August: Osage County, which won a Pulitzer Prize, Superior Donuts, and 2016's Bug, which was also directed by Simon Evans at Found111. 

Further casting for the West End revival of Killer Joe will be announced at a later date.

Killer Joe is booking now and you won't want to miss this 13-week limited engagement at Trafalgar Studios this summer.

For tickets to see Killer Joe's attempt at matricide, click here.

 

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Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

Ephram is a jack of all trades and enjoys attending theatre, classical music concerts and the opera.