Carey Mulligan se une al reparto de «Shame», de Steve McQueen

As fans of award-winning-artist-turned-director Steve McQueen‘s debut feature, 2008’s powerful “Hunger,” there are few projects we’re quite as excited about for 2011 as his sophomore film, “Shame.” As announced a few months back, the film will see McQueen reteam with his “Hunger” star Michael Fassbender, in a drama about a sex addict in New York. It will be the first role the actor takes after playing Magneto in “X-Men: First Class,”Filming’s set to kick off in January, and news emerged over the weekend of some additions to the cast that, if they pan out, only make us more excited about the project. According to The Irish Film and Television Network (via Irish Central) Carey Mulligan, the Oscar-nominated star of “An Education,” will co-star with Fassbender in the project—something of a natural fit, considering that she, like the Irish-German star, is one of the most highly acclaimed young actors of recent years.

The pair will be joined by James Badge Dale, who’s probably more familiar as a face than as a name. Arguably best known for being Jack Bauer’s sidekick in a season of “24,” and for being the man who sets off the orgy of headshots at the end of “The Departed,” the 32-year-old actor’s had something of a banner year, with lead roles in both the mega-budgeted HBO show “The Pacific,” and in AMC‘s cult success “Rubicon,” where he managed to give a compelling performance, despite not having a lot to do except look at things in a vaguely puzzled manner.

There’s no official word on who the actors will play, but a glance at the script, co-written by McQueen and Abi Morgan (”Sex Traffic”) makes it pretty easy to guess. The plot revolves around Brandon (Fassbender), a Manhattan officer worker with a hopeless sex addiction. It’s possible that Mulligan is playing Marianne, a co-worker that Brandon begins a relationship with, but it seems far more likely that she’s play Sissy, his troubled sister, a blues singer who comes to stay for a few days. Meanwhile, Badge Dale’s likely to play David, Brandon’s boss.

Both are decent parts, especially Mulligan’s, but much like “Hunger” it’s very much Fassbender’s show—the material’s very tough (although possibly not quite as much as “Hunger”), and it should prove to be a raw, brave performance from the actor. Mulligan’s currently wrapping up Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “Drive,” and will move on to this next, before, presumably, shooting Baz Luhrmann‘s “The Great Gatsby” sometime next year, while Fassbender was rumored to be participating to some degree in “The Hobbit,” although things have been quiet on that front of late and scheduling conflicts could seemingly arise. Shooting begins in January, and the film’s expected to be released before the end of 2011, with Momentum releasing the film in the U.K.