Michael Bay's 'Pain & Gain' Offers Look At Dwayne Johnson In New Set Photo, Adds Another Comedian In Ken Jeong

Earlier this week, we got our first look at a beefed-up Mark Wahlberg on the set of Pain & Gain, Michael Bay's relatively low-budget ($20 million) true crime black comedy, but his co-star Dwayne Johnson was nowhere to be seen. Now we also have a glimpse of Johnson in character, and Wahlberg may be wishing we didn't. Because as buff as Wahlberg is, pretty much everyone looks shrimpy standing next to the 6'5" former wrestling star.

As Wahlberg and Johnson push their bodies to ever more impressive levels of muscularity, however, the project's also added another actor who doesn't fit into the bodybuilding mold. Ken Jeong, who previously starred in Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, has just boarded the cast in a mysterious role. More after the jump.

[Photos via Star Pulse]

THR, which broke news of Jeong's casting, had few details about his role, though they were able to reveal that the character's name is "Johnny Wu." Jeong joins a fairly strong comedic cast that also includes Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson, and Tony Shaloub, in addition to Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris, and Bar Paly.

Based on real-life events, Pain & Gain centers around a group of Miami Beach bodybuilders (Wahlberg, Johnson, and Mackie) who get plot to kidnap and extort a wealthy businessman (Shaloub) only to find the situation spinning out of control. I've been following the project with great interest because the dark comedy sounds like such a break from Bay's usual explosion-heavy fare. While I still can't fathom exactly how the picture will turn out, hiring strong comedic talents like Jeong, Corddry, and Wilson should go a long way toward helping Bay nail that "Fargo meets Pulp Fiction" tone he's apparently going for.