Elias Koteas has been cast in “Winnie,” the Winnie Mandela biopic being produced by Equinoxe Films.

This confirms that, finally, someone is listening to me.

Terrence Howard and Jennifer Hudson have already been cast as Nelson and Winnie Mandela, with Wendy Crewson as a pro-Mandelas activist. Koteas will play De Vries, an overzealous officer in the apartheid police state who rises in power and becomes intent on stopping Winnie and the black anti-apartheid activists from gaining power.

Darrell Roodt is directing the Canada/South Africa co-production, which is being produced by Michael Mosca of Equinoxe and Andre Pieterse of Iron Wood Film. The movie is being shot in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Robbin Island.

Repped by UTA and Kipperman Management, Koteas most recently appeared in “The Killer Inside Me,” “Shutter Island” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” He will next appear in the horror thriller “Let Me In,” which hits theaters in October, and the Universal thriller “Dream House.”

This is decidedly random, but I've seen two movies recently that featured typically strong appearances by the mostly unsung Elias Koteas. I don't know what it is, but I find this guy exhilarating to watch and wholeheartedly believe that he needs to be on screen as much as humanly possible. So I hereby call for casting directors to bring him in on everything -- comic book villains, romantic leads, action roles, miserable dramas, pornos, whatever. Get him in the movie. Do it now.