Thomas McCarthy (writer and director, The Visitor) takes a role in Roland Emmerich's 2012.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy joins an ensemble cast led by John Cusack that includes Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover and Oliver Platt.

McCarthy will play the boyfriend of Peet, who is the ex-wife of Cusack's character.

"As an actor, I've never worked on anything with this scale before, and I always go see these movies," he said. "And then there's the director part of me. I get really excited about working with directors like this, who do things that are so wildly different from me. And he really is. He works on a totally different canvas.

2012 is set to shoot in August in Vancouver.