Benjamin Walker in Talks to Star in Upcoming Film In the Heart of the Sea

Broadway veteran Benjamin Walker may star in director Ron Howard's upcoming big screen adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, according to Deadline.com. Produced by Warner Bros., the Charles Leavitt-penned film has already cast Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Holland (The Impossible).

In the Heart of the Sea tells the fact-based tale of the Nantucket whaling ship the Essex, which was stalked and ultimately destroyed by a sperm whale in 1820. Stranded thousands of miles from home, the crew struggled to survive, and they were lost at sea for 90 days. Eight were rescued. Walker is in talks to play George Pollard, the arrogant privileged son of a whaling family who attempts to use his family name to gain captaincy, and who butts heads with shipmate Chase (Hemsworth), who knows the job and the sea much better.

Walker recently starred as Brick Pollitt in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His other Broadway credits include Inherit the Wind, Les Liasons Dangereuses and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Walker's film and TV credits include HBO's upcoming Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, The Great Wall, The Missionary, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Kinsey and Flags of Our Fathers.