In recent years, Michelle Monaghan has really been an unsung hero of sorts. She excelled, perhaps most notably, in Ben Affleck‘s praised debut Gone Baby Gone, and hasn’t failed to maintain that level of quality in the years since. She was phenomenal in James Mottern‘s little-seen Trucker — she basically carried the whole film — and followed that up with equally good supporting turns in Sofia Coppola‘s Somewhere (yeah, she was barely in it, but still) and Duncan Jones‘ recent Source Code.
Her next role, which she’s just signed on to, will be a leading part in Fort Bliss, which seems to bear plenty of similarities — a somewhat worn-down premise, a still up-and-coming writer-director (Claudia Myers), and, this probably goes without saying, firmly indie roots — to the aforementioned Trucker. The material, though, however used up it may sound — Monaghan will play “a female soldier transferred home after a long tour in Afghanistan [who] struggles to relearn how to feel to rebuild her relationship with her five-year-old son” — will almost certainly provide the actress with another chance to stretch her wings. Plus, with the impressiveness of her recent outings, the timing is ripe for a performance like this to elicit Oscar attention for her. That is, of course, if she and the film, at least on some level, deliver. [Showblitz]
Fort Bliss will begin shooting in New Mexico in June 2012. Monaghan can currently be seen in the Gerard Butler-starrer Machine Gun Preacher — you can read our generally enthusiastic review here.
What do you think of Monaghan’s recent work? Do you think Fort Bliss could bring her awards attention?