Emile Hirsch probably should’ve been nominated for an Oscar when he led Into the Wild and, though I don’t know how much that snub affected his career, the going’s been a little rough in the years since that film hit. Although Speed Racer has its defenders (who are wrong, by the way), the best thing on his plate in the time since has been, what, practically a walk-on role in Milk? And then there was The Darkest Hour a few months back…

So this latest news gives me some hope. Buried in a THR (via ThePlaylist) article about Rooney Mara leading Brooklyn is the ever-so-slight mention that Hirsch will co-star in A Long Way Down, which managed to nab Toni Collette and Pierce Brosnan about a week ago. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby (An Education) and directed by Pascal Chaumeil, the story revolves around four people who find themselves all attempting to jump from the same high-rise location on New Year’s Eve, with Collette playing the mother of a disabled child and Brosnan taking a washed-up talk show host.

Knowing that, it’s speculated Hirsch will be seen as J.J., a once-promising rock star now delivering pizzas and unwanted by his former girlfriend. There’s some actual, dramatic meat there, with which one of this generation’s most talented actors can dig into. Needless to say, I’m definitely rooting for Long Way Down to impress when it hits sometime next year.

Is A Long Way Down the right kind of project for Hirsch to star in?