He’s played the god of war and a legendary Latino political leader… And, now Édgar Ramírez is set to portray a boxing champ.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan actor has signed on to star opposite Robert De Niro in Hands of Stone.
The drama, written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, centers on the life of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who was nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” during his career.
Ramírez will portray Durán, while De Niro will play his trainer Ray Arcel in a drama that focuses on how each man changed the life of the other.
The film is set during boxing’s Golden Era, when Durán was among top notch fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Hector Camacho and Vinny Pazienza.
The film’s focus will be on Durán’s incredible bouts with Leonard, culminating in an inexplicable ending of the famous fight where Durán quit in the ring and cried “No mas,” on a night when Leonard was having his way.
Hands of Stone will begin production in Panama this September.
“The story of Roberto Durán and Ray Arcel is not only a homage to the golden days of boxing; it is most importantly the story of a fatherless man who teaches every single one of us the true meaning of never giving up,” said the film’s producers.
Ramírez recently appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty and next stars in Libertador.
