Los Angeles, Mar 8 (IANS): Former NFL star Tony Gonzalez has joined the cast of Indian actress Deepika Padukone's Hollywood debut project "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage”, which stars action hero Vin Diesel in the lead.
This marks the feature film debut for Gonzalez, a former Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons All-Pro tight end and current CBS Sports analyst, reports variety.com.
Gonzalez's NFL career spanned 17 years, 12 with Kansas City after being the team's first-round pick in 1997, and five with Atlanta before his retirement in 2013.
Diesel starred in the original 2002 “XXX,” directed by Rob Cohen, as underground sports star Xander Cage, who was blackmailed by the US government to take down a gang of international terrorists. The film performed well with $277 million worldwide.
Diesel was not part of the sequel, with Ice Cube playing the lead role in 2005’s “xXx: State of the Union”.
The third film follows Diesel’s character as he comes out of self-imposed exile to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Deepika will play the female lead opposite Diesel, joining Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev, Donnie Yen and Samuel L. Jackson.
The film will release on January 20, 2017.