Jai Courtney’s 2013 may have gotten off to a bad start thanks to A Good Day to Die Hard, but he’s bouncing back: the Australian actor has roles in the 2014 adaptation of YA novel Divergent as well as local thriller Felony (featuring Joel Edgerton) and just recently he’s been courted by Oscar-level talent for their own upcoming directorial projects. Courtney has signed on for roles in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken and fellow Aussie Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner, which will mark Crowe’s first time sitting in the director’s chair.
By happy accident, these movies each revolve around one of the two World Wars, putting Courtney square in the midst of historical drama. Unbroken concerns itself with real-life former Olympian Louis Zamperini and his time spent as a POW during WWII, while The Water Diviner follows a father’s journey to recover the bodies of his three sons, all slain during WWI. Courtney will play supporting parts in both films; Jolie has chosen Jack O’Connell (who will show up in 2014′s 300: Rise of an Empire) as her lead in Unbroken, while Crowe will direct himself in the principal role for The Water Diviner.
By happy accident, these movies each revolve around one of the two World Wars, putting Courtney square in the midst of historical drama. Unbroken concerns itself with real-life former Olympian Louis Zamperini and his time spent as a POW during WWII, while The Water Diviner follows a father’s journey to recover the bodies of his three sons, all slain during WWI. Courtney will play supporting parts in both films; Jolie has chosen Jack O’Connell (who will show up in 2014′s 300: Rise of an Empire) as her lead in Unbroken, while Crowe will direct himself in the principal role for The Water Diviner.