Matthew McConaughey has entered into talks to star in ‘Free State Of Jones’.
The Oscar-winning actor is interested in the project, which is being led by ‘Hunger Games’ director Gary Ross and tells the story of Newton Knight, who led a famous rebellion in America’s Civil War.
McConaughey, 45, is in discussions to play the role of Knight, who was once a loyal Confederate recruit, but later defected from the army and led a group of troops who created the Free State of Jones, Deadline reports.
As the story progresses, Knight marries a slave – which was one of the first ever publicised mixed race unions in the south – and frees enslaved children after the conflict ends.
The project is being driven by Ross, 58, who has been striving to get the film made for a number of years.
Meanwhile, McConaughey revealed earlier this week that he opted to take a break from Hollywood after the release of his 2009 movie ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ because he had become "un-branded".
The actor – who appears alongside Anne Hathaway and Sir Michael Caine in ‘Interstellar’ – took a two-year hiatus in order to wait for a script which excited him.
He explained: "It was the anonymity that did it. I became kind of un-branded in the minds of others for a while."
Matthew McConaughey in talks over Free State Of Jones
