On his popular podcast “Hollywood Babble-On,” filmmaker Kevin Smith broke the news that he has cast the lead in his planned hockey comedy Hit Somebody and it’s a little known TV actor named Nicholas Braun, who also appears in Smith’s Red State. Smith also mentioned he hopes to start shooting the film sometime between July and September of 2011.
Smith had stated earlier this year that the lead role in the comedy inspired by a Warren Zevon song was perfect for his Cop Out co-star Seann William Scott, but Scott instead signed onto the Jay Baruchel hockey comedy Goon, which may have convinced Smith to take a different approach to casting.
Braun previously appeared in Disney’s Sky High and on the ABC Family series “10 Things I Hate About You,” and on the podcast, Smith said about the actor:
“He’s this really really great actor who I love to death and he is the perfect lead for this script… he’s such a good guy, he’s a sweetheart and he’s f*ckin so dope in [Red State]”
(Kudos to the guys at /Film, who recently spoke to Smith about his plans to auction off Red State when he teased the casting and then happened to be listening to Smith’s podcast when he announced the lead.)
