It appears that True Detective won’t be Vince Vaughn’s last brush with drama. The actor made a fairly significant statement when he signed on to star in season two of HBO’s buzzworthy anthology series, tackling a dramatic and morally ambiguous character that was very unlike his recent string of forgettable comedies. And now Deadline reports that Vaughn is looking to keep the challenging material going, as he is signing on to star in Mel Gibson’s next directorial effort, Hacksaw Ridge.

Andrew Garfield is set to lead the World War II drama, which tells the true story of war hero Desmond T. Doss, a private who was drafted in 1942 but refused to kill or carry a weapon.  He was stationed in the Pacific where he worked as a medic and was ostracized for his beliefs, but he became a hero when he saved 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa, helping to evacuate the wounded and putting himself directly in the line of fire.

Vaughn will play Sgt. Howell in the film, a non-commissioned officer from Alabama who is tasked with making sure the soldiers are ready for battle. Doss’ refusal to kill puts Howell in a tight spot. Gibson’s Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace co-wrote the picture with Robert Schenkkan, and Sam Worthington is also attached to star. This will be Gibson’s first directorial effort since 2006’s Apocalypto, so it'll be interesting to see how his filmmaking style has changed (if at all) in a decade's time. Production on Hacksaw Ridge is set to take place in Australia.

mel-gibson-apocalypto
Image via Buena Vista Pictures