Nickelodeon Star To Play Terrorist Tsarnaev In Boston Bombing Movie
Nickelodeon star Alex Wolff will play Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Mark Wahlberg’s controversial new movie inspired by the Boston bombing.
Us Weekly reports that Alex Wolff, formerly of the Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon, will play Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a terrorist who detonated a pressure-cooker bomb and killed three civilians and injured 264 others on April 20, 2013. The filming of Mark Wahlberg’s new Boston bombing film is slated to begin soon, and will feature locations throughout Boston – including one of the homes of a Boston police officer who was killed in the attack.
Alex Wolff set to play one of the Boston Bombers in Mark Wahlberg's Patriots Day – Daily Mail https://t.co/xOnrhOimr5
— Boston Share (@Boston_Share) April 5, 2016
Mark Wahlberg’s Boston bombing film, Patriot’s Day, will star Nickelodeon star Alex Wolff in an atypical role for the teenage TV star, who previously starred in Nickelodeon series’ and musical comedies. The Boston bombing movie featuring the Tsarnaev brothers will be directed by Peter Berg, and will star Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, John Goodman, J.K. Simmons, and Kevin Bacon.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 22, is a former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student who was sentenced to death by lethal injection back in May of 2015 for his role in the infamous Boston bombing. Dzhokhar planned the bombing with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Both brothers were reportedly self-radicalized and built their pressure-cooker bombs in secret, before planting them on the scene of the Boston Marathon.
Patriot’s Day reportedly centers on the Boston bombing, but also on the lives of the police officers involved in the subsequent manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers.
Mark Wahlberg will play a Boston police officer who is reportedly central to the investigation and manhunt. Kevin Bacon will reportedly play an FBI agent hunting the Tsarnaev brothers as they fled across Boston after setting off their bombs during the Boston Marathon.
According to the Daily Mail, some survivors of the Boston bombing have come out against the Mark Wahlberg film, stating that it is far too soon to dramatize such a traumatic event. People in Boston, speaking with media outlets, have expressed outrage and disappointment over the dramatization of the terrorist attack which took place only two years ago.
“For me, there’s no way they can do this. Because I’m thinking to myself, that’s going to stir things up all over again,” said Maria Van Ryn, a Boston resident speaking to NPR about the upcoming film.
Michael Beach, Alex Wolff & Themo Melikidze Join #PatriotsDay Cast – https://t.co/wpVAT1kqM8 pic.twitter.com/VTubo6uZA7
— We Got This Covered (@wgtc_site) April 5, 2016
For many who lived through the Boston bombings, Patriot’s Day hits too close to home, and some have expressed fears over portraying the Tsarnaev brothers in a fictionalized film, fearing that it could glorify the brothers who caused so much pain and suffering. One of the police officers involved in the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has also expressed doubts about the film, but remains optimistic.
“I want to make sure they can do it right, and it shows our strength, our courage, our resilience,” said John Herring, a police officer working in Watertown, Massachusetts, the day they found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding out.
Director Peter Berg has attempted to quell concerns over the content of the Boston bombing film, stating that he intends to make the film for the people who survived the Boston bombings, not for the Tsarnaev brothers.
“These are the people that we’re making the film for, and the pressure we feel to honor these people is what fuels us. We have the ability to reach 50 million people and remind them of the horrors of this tragedy and encourage people to look at what type of demented minds cause such crimes so they can at least be alert to that,” said Peter Berg, speaking to NPR about his upcoming Boston bombing film.
[Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD]
