Meet the Cast of Martin McDonagh’s ‘Wild Horse Nine’ (With Photos)
The ‘Wild Horse Nine’ cast is a lineup of scenery chewing character actors well suited to McDonagh’s ultra dark brand of comedy. The film follows two CIA colleagues whose friendship is tested by personal circumstances while Chile lives through the last hours of Salvador Allende’s government. It reaches theaters on November 6.
Martin McDonagh directs a cast of John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailín Salas, Tom Waits and Parker Posey, and Paola Giannini was also announced as part of the ensemble. Here is a closer look at the main performers and the roles they play.
Sam Rockwell
Rockwell plays CIA officer Lee Chesterfield, who is tasked by bureau chief MJ with taking part in instigating a coup in Chile. He is the off sider to Malkovich’s veteran agent.
Rockwell is an Academy Award winner, known for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ and ‘Vice’. McDonagh has said he tailored the role specifically for the actor.
Rockwell has described the film as a very theatrical buddy movie and called the two agents an odd couple. That description fits a pairing built on long familiarity and constant friction.
John Malkovich
Malkovich plays Chris Carlisle, a veteran CIA officer. The character is a grizzled agent stationed in Chile who is a constant irritation to his bureau chief.
In its review, AV Club wrote that his co stars are no match for his loose cannon performance. That reading matches how the studio has marketed the character in its trailer.
Malkovich has said audiences connect with regret, the things people wish they had said or done, and that both of the lead characters carry plenty of it. He was one of the early additions announced before production began.
Steve Buscemi
Buscemi plays MJ, the bureau chief who dispatches Chris and Lee from Santiago to Easter Island. The character is the CIA chief in Santiago.
Buscemi took on the role that Mark Ruffalo was originally cast in. Ruffalo left the project, and Buscemi joined in March of the following year.
The AV Club review singled out Buscemi as increasingly frazzled. He brings a résumé that includes ‘Fargo’ and ‘Ghost World’.
Parker Posey
Posey plays Marge, the wife of Rockwell’s character, and she is best known to many viewers as a star of ‘The White Lotus’. Her screen time is smaller than the leads, but the role is a pivotal one.
The critic at Hollywood Authentic praised Posey for stealing focus over the phone as a kaftan wearing Marge who understands more than her husband knows. That makes her a quiet counterweight to the film’s louder personalities.
Variety reported her casting while the project was still gearing up for production. She joined an ensemble that was already taking shape around Rockwell.
Tom Waits
Waits plays Jim, the brother of Malkovich’s Chris. He is a singer songwriter by trade.
Waits reunites with McDonagh and Rockwell for the first time since ‘Seven Psychopaths’. The familiarity between the three men helps explain how easily he fits into the ensemble.
One review described his turn as a gruff cameo with heart. Waits also shared the first trailer on social media, with the full cast listed in his post.
Mariana di Girolamo
Di Girolamo is a Chilean actor. Her previous credits include ‘Ema’ and ‘Kill the Jockey’.
Searchlight’s synopsis says Chris develops a growing connection to two rebellious students, played by di Girolamo and Ailín Salas. That connection threatens to send the whole trip sideways.
She was announced alongside Waits, Salas and Giannini in a later round of casting news. Her role gives the story a younger perspective on the political upheaval around the agents.
Ailín Salas
Salas is credited for ‘El Secreto’ and ‘Monzón’. She plays the second of the two rebellious students opposite di Girolamo.
The setting gives her scenes a distinctive backdrop. The film unfolds across the rugged landscapes of Easter Island, and filming took place in Santiago and Rapa Nui.
Readers who have seen ‘Wild Horse Nine’ may want to say in the comments whether Salas and di Girolamo’s students or Malkovich’s unpredictable Chris did more to knock the trip off course.
