At this point in the game, half of the excitement surrounding the next feature from The Hurt Locker team of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal seems to be the sheer secrecy of it all. Chronicling the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, went through a rare production as virtually no set photos were revealed and shooting was over before we even knew it occurred.

Although Bigelow already assembled one of the finest ensembles of the year with Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Nash Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau and Frank Grillo, the surprises keep coming. Entertainment Weekly has now revealed that James Gandolfini filmed a secret role for the film as CIA head Leon Panetta, who is currently the Secretary of Defense.

As we know, President Obama won’t be featured in the film, but this will likely be the highest government official that will be portrayed here (barring any surprises), as Panetta oversaw the raid that ended in the capture of the most wanted terrorist. After taking it relatively light the last few years, this marks the third major fall film for Gandolfini, who has an excellent supporting role in Andrew Dominik‘s Killing Them Softly, as well as a reteam with his Sopranos creator David Chase in Not Fade Away. As we wait for a new trailer for Zero Dark Thirty, check out the first look of Gandolfini below.

Zero Dark Thirty lands on December 19th.

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