I hold the belief that Scott Glenn is one of the better actors out there right now, so his talents gracing the screen is always a nice thing to see. Whether it’s his recent turns in Sucker Punch or the excellent indie, Magic Valley (somebody please pick that up already), the guy captures your attention whenever he’s onscreen.

So, as you can imagine, it makes me pretty happy to read the story from Variety which tells us that the actor will join The Bourne Legacy, reprising his role of CIA Director Ezra Kramer from The Bourne Ultimatum. He’s also joined by original the trilogy stayovers of Joan Allen and Albert Finney, with Jeremy Renner leading a cast of newcomers that also includes Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Oscar Isaac, and Stacy Keach. Tony Gilroy is writing and directing this new chapter in the franchise, and it’s scheduled to open on August 3rd, 2012.

The other announcement was for Lee Daniels The Paperboy, which we just saw some set photos from today. They say that he’ll be playing “W.W. James,” a character that “runs the local newspaper.” You can get an idea of how the role will play out when you know that the story follows “Jack, the son of a Florida publisher who gets involved with his older brother journalist’s investigation of a murdered sheriff.” Eventually, Jack “ends up investigating whether or not the man currently on death row for committing the crime is in fact guilty.” Also starring Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, John Cusack, and David Oyelowo, the “sexual thriller” is based on Pete Dexter‘s novel.

Seeing him come back for Bourne is curious. I don’t remember him being in Ultimatum too much, and even Albert Finney, who was in that film less than Glenn, had a bigger part in the overall story; they seem to have a clear intent in focusing on “the other side” of this series. That’s a creative choice I can get behind, even if he doesn’t end up having a big part. I don’t expect his role in The Paperboy to be too large, either, but we already know that he can do the authority figure thing perfectly — just look at The Silence of the Lambs. I’m sure he’ll play both of these characters well, so his presence makes me even more excited for these films.

Are you a fan of Glenn, and does his involvement with these projects make you excited?