A retired rebel soldier from the jungles of eastern Myanmar has been plucked from obscurity to play a brutal Burmese officer opposite Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone in his latest Rambo movie, according to Reuters.

Sai Mawng, 40, an ex-guerrilla from the Shan State Army, which has been fighting for independence in the former Burma since 1948, was picked from nearly 300 applicants for the part, the Shan Herald Agency for News reported.

According to agency, the directors of Rambo IV: In The Serpent's Eye had been looking for a "Burmese male, 32-40, military-looking man, character face, unlikeable."

Other Shan refugees and migrants in northern Thailand are being paid 300 baht ($8.50) a day plus meals to play Burmese soldiers in the movie, which is being filmed in a village near the city of Chiang Mai, local newspapers said.

In the movie, renegade Vietnam War veteran John Rambo comes out of retirement as a boat repairman in Bangkok to track down missionary aid workers who have disappeared in the jungles of impoverished Myanmar.

Rambo was released January 25th, 2008 and stars Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Reynaldo Gallegos, Jake La Botz, Tim Kang, Maung Maung Khin. The film is directed by Sylvester Stallone.