"Che" actor Edgar Ramirez joins another battle

By Leslie Simmons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Che" actor Edgar Ramirez is continuing his revolutionary ways.

He will star in French director Olivier Assayas' "Ilich: Story of Carlos," tackling four to five languages for the complex role as the real life "anti-James Bond" who worked for radical Palestinians and groups in Syria, Libya, Iraq and communist Romania.

The film centres on the true story of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, a Venezuelan-born leftist revolutionary nicknamed Carlos and later Jackal who famously raided the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, in 1975.

"Story of Carlos" is the reminiscences of the revolutionary, who was manipulated by the secret services of Arabian and eastern countries and founded a worldwide terrorist organisation. He ended up ridiculed and alone in exile in Sudan before being picked up by French police. Sanchez is serving a life sentence in France.

Assayas said Ramirez was the right fit for the role because the actor also hails from Venezuela, and the two share similarities in build, fluency in many languages and their awareness of complex international politics.

Ramirez was, Assayas said, "the obvious choice to portray the most complex and controversial character to emerge from the revolutionary struggles of our time."

Production is set to begin in January. It will shoot in numerous locations, including France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Lebanon, Yemen and possibly Sudan.

Ramirez plays Ciro Redondo, a member of Fidel Castro's rebel army, in Steven Soderbergh's biopic "Che." Other credits include "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Domino."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter