David Strathairn Will Star in NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Deadline reports that Oscar nominee David Strathairn has joined the star-studded cast of Guillermo Del Toro's highly-anticipated film "Nightmare Alley."

Bradley Cooper stars in the film, alongside Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, and Cate Blanchett.

The film is an adaptation of a 1946 novel by William Lindsay. It is set in a world of carnival hustlers and con men, telling the story of a mentalist (Cooper) who teams with a psychologist in order to swindle the rich. Things go south for the poor sap when he is out-hustled by the woman.

Strathairn plays the alcoholic husband of Collette's character, a mentalist named Zeena who ends up mentoring Cooper's character.

Throughout the last three decades, David has continued to work steadily and passionately in theater and, to this day, still considers the stage his first love. He has appeared on Broadway in Einstein and the Polar Bear (1981), Three Sisters (1997), Dance of Death (2001) and Salome (2003), as well as an extensive list of Off-Broadway and regional productions that include A Lie of the Mind (1985-1986) and premiere productions of Eyes For Consuela (1998), Ashes to Ashes (1999), and Cherry Docs (2000). More recent critically-acclaimed pieces have included Stranger (2000), The Winter's Tale (2003), and the premiere production of Hannah and Martin (2004). In 2004, David starred as Rodney, a fading movie star, in playwright Richard Nelson's Rodney's Wife at the Classic Stage Company. He was nominated for an Academy Award for "Good Night, and Good Luck."