They've been saying it for decades, U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr has movie star looks. It sounds like he's finally paid attention

According to IFTN, Mullen Jr has signed on to star alongside Irish actress Maria Doyle Kennedy (Downton Abbey) in Erik Poppe’s A Thousand Times Good Night, which began shooting in Dublin last week.

The pop star and the actress join a previously announced cast that includes French actress Juliette Binoche. Young up and coming Irish actress Lauryn Canny has also been cast as Binoche’s daughter Steph.

The role is actually the second acting job for U2 drummer Mullen, whose first film role was in Irish director Mary McGuckian's Man on the Train with Donald Sutherland in 2011 (hands up if you've seen it?).

A Thousand Times Good Night is reportedly inspired by Poppe’s own experiences as a war photographer. It tells the story of photographer Rebekka, who is torn between the job and the family she loves.

Binoche will play the photographer while Mullen Jr and Kennedy will play her best friends in the drama, which is scheduled to move to Morrocco following a five-week shoot in Dublin.

A Thousand Times Good Night is a co-production between Ireland’s Newgrange Pictures, Paradox in Norway and Zentropa International Sweden.

The feature’s budget is reportedly around 5 million euro with the project having been offered 300,000 euro from the Irish Film Board in the last round of funding.