Sharlto Copley

Though perfect in his breakout role in 'District 9,' it seems Sharlto Copley was born to play "Howling Mad Murdock" in the new 'The A-Team.'

As the South African explained on 'Lopez Tonight' (weeknights, 11PM ET on TBS), the actor established an 'A-Team' gang when he was 11 years old. When a rival A-Team band of kids started up, the two gangs had "war on the field" after school.

"We had a fight, and my gang won," said Copley, who fought the other team's Murdock with a stick. Copley even had a birthday cake that proved his fandom -- and confirmed the political and cultural importance of Mr. T. "That [was] a black iconic character in apartheid-era South Africa. That was the power of Mr. T to cross cultural, racial barriers."

Huh. I didn't even realize they had finished casting the big-screen A Team movie let alone started to film it. But above is the first pic from the set. That's Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Face, Quinton Jackson as B.A. Baracus, and Sharlto Copley as Murdock (here's a bigger version of the picture). The film comes out next June.

[via Pop Candy]

It appears that District 9 star Sharlto Copley is in talks to play "Howling Mad" Murdock in the big-screen version of The A-Team. Jessica Biel is also in talks to play an army general pursing the covert team, which is a nice change of pace considering that the token female character of Amy in the original series didn't seem to do much (so much so that her character was eliminated late in the series and nobody noticed).

If the talks are successful, Copley will join UFC star "Rampage" Jackson, Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper as the other members of the team. Biel may join the team as well as it's been revealed that she is a former romantic partner of Cooper's "Face" character. If her first name is Amy, that would clinch it.

The movie cast is sounding pretty good. Hopefully there can be cameos by the surviving original television actors. However, if the movie wanted to truly capture the spirit of the original television show, then ten thousand bullets will be fired and nobody will die.

You can watch full episodes of the original television show on SlashControl.