Elizabeth Banks has signed on to star in a pair of upcoming indie films. First up, THR reports that Banks has joined the cast of director Bill Pohlad’s biopic of The Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, titled Love & Mercy. Banks will play Melinda Ledbetter, a former model who met Wilson in the 1980s and subsequently became his wife. The pic will cover several decades of Wilson’s life as he struggles with mental illness and his relationship with Melinda. Paul Dano and John Cusack are poised to play Wilson at different points in his life, and Paul Giamatti is also part of the cast.
Additionally, Banks has also been tapped to lead the indie Little Accidents. Written and directed by Sara Colangelo, the film centers on the fallout in a small American coal town after a mining accident kills 12 men. The pic is based on Colangelo’s short film of the same name, and Banks is now set to play the film’s lead opposite Boyd Holbrook. The actress has been keeping plenty busy as of late, as she returns in this November’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and she toplines the comedy Walk of Shame, which opens next March.