Matt Damon, Peter Stormare and Sanjeev Bhaskar Join Gilliam’s ZERO THEOREM

Terry Gilliam has added three more names to the cast list of his upcoming science-fiction thriller The Zero Theorem – Matt Damon, Peter Stormare and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

Damon’s casting was reported by Vulture, who had caught up with the actor at the premier of his pal Ben Affleck’s new film Argo. Damon confirmed his casting and gave a small hint about his role.

I’m just doing a very small part in [The Zero Theorem]. Someone finally gave him money to do this one, thank God. It’s with Christoph Waltz and Tilda Swinton. I’d do anything for Terry. It’s been ten years since I last worked with him. I wrote Terry this whole e-mail, because we had this whole conversation about what the character would look like, because the story takes place in the future, but he had a specific look that he wanted, but then I had to [points to shaved head], and I said, “Terry, what should we do?” And he said, “Actually, we can take advantage of the fact that your head is shaved. Why don’t we change your hairline?” So he mocked up a picture and sent me a real receding hairline, with white spiked hair. “We might as well take advantage of the fact that you’re bald and really do something, present you in a way you’ve never been seen before.”

They’re making the wig now, and I saw the hair sample — they’ve got to get it to London and send it. It’s, like, gray-white. He’s supposed to be my age, and it’s supposed to be a believable hairline, but a few inches back to here [points to an area much further back]. Still believable that it could be mine, and then they’ll fine shave my head all the way down. Terry’s so visual, you know, which I love. It makes it very easy to work with him. He always knows exactly what he wants.

Gilliam himself broke the news about the casting of Stormare and Bhaskar on his Facebook page stating –

Excitement at the front! Zero Theorem now has two more brilliant actors on board: Peter Stormare and Sanjeev Bhaskar. Not just comic geniuses but great friends. They will be sharing two parts at the same time. I hope you like the look.

There’s no further word on the exact nature of the parts that three will be playing. Having read the script, I can hazard a guess, but it lies a little too far into spoiler territory for me to explain. Suffice it to say that all three will be playing small-ish but pivitol roles in the story of a man (Christoph Waltz) who is working on a thought-to-be-impossible-to-solve mathematical formula for his employer while waiting for a phone call that could explain the meaning of life.