Two busy actors are dipping their feet into the drama pool for what is sure to be a refreshing new experience. According to Vulture, Bradley Cooper (“Midnight Meat Train”) and Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) are set to star in “Serena,” an adaptation of a novel by Ron Rash. Susanne Bier (“In a Better World”) is set to direct the story about a couple who, in 1930, move to North Carolina to build a timber empire. Their vicious and blind ambition turn them against each other as the sterile wife launches a vendetta against her husband’s illegitimate son. The two actors are becoming very popular lately, and are somehow managing to squeeze this film into their already packed schedules. Lawrence is busy training for the sequel to “The Hunger Games,” known as “Catching Fire,” and preparing for the recently announced sequel to “X-Men: First Class.” Cooper is expected to film both “Paradise Lost” and “The Hangover 3” this year. The roles these two are taking over used to belong to Angelina Jolie with the male role not cast, but I feel a lot better about this project knowing that younger talent will be given a chance to shine with some meaty dramatic work.

The girl with the dragon tattoo has found a new leading role. Deadline has learned that Rooney Mara (“The Social Network”) has replaced Blake Lively (“Green Lantern”) in the upcoming Steven Soderbergh film “The Side Effects.” She is joining Jude Law (“Enemy at the Gates”), Channing Tatum (upcoming “21 Jump Street”) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (“The Mask of Zorro”) in a film about psycho pharmacology (the study of how drugs affect the human mind). Zeta-Jones and Law are playing doctors with Mara playing a woman who becomes addicted to prescription drugs. She begins an affair with Law's character while Tatum plays Mara's character's husband, a convict who is soon be released from prison. Normally I would think highly of this cast (except Tatum), but based on Soderbergh’s last few efforts (“Contagion” and “Haywire”) I no longer have faith in him as a filmmaker. Both movies were relatively crappy, overhyped, and disappointing. Even the amazing cast in each film couldn’t save the less-than-thrilling final product. I do, however, feel like Mara is perfect for this type of role. Based on what she did in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” I feel as though she handles the role of a troubled person very well. I will still see Soderbergh’s films for as long as he continues to make them, but I don’t intend to ever pay for one again.

Production on a new biopic is quickly heating up. Variety is reporting that Vera Farmiga (“Running Scared”) has joined the cast of “The Drummer,” a film about Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson. She will be playing Fleetwood Mac singer/songwriter Christine McVie. Aaron Eckhart (“Thank You for Smoking”) is already set to play Dennis Wilson, and is also producing the film. The movie will focus on the last six years of Wilson’s life during which he and McVie sparked a passionate relationship before Wilson’s death in 1983. Similar to what Jaoquin and Reese did in “Walk the Line,” Eckhart and Farmiga will record their own versions of songs by Wilson and McVie. Wilson’s children are also onboard as producers of the film to ensure authenticity in order to bring us an accurate portrayal. I’m all for biopics, and I learn a lot from them with regard to how life was like for people in their respective time periods. With an amazing cast like this, and the children helping out, I don’t know how this film could be anything but excellent.

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