EXCLUSIVE: Add Law & Order: SVU alum Christopher Meloni to the cast of tough guys lined up for the Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez-directed Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. Meloni has landed a lead role in the film. He’ll be playing a cop, which might seem like stereotyping. But in the original Sin City, cops were the most hard-edged disreputable characters in the film.

So while Meloni might seem like the prototypical honest cop from his TV series run, if you’ve seen any of his work in the HBO series Oz, you’ll know he can play one frighteningly imposing dude capable of anything. Dimension Films is already in production on the film, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Dennis Haysbert and Jamie Chung, so far. I’ve heard whispers Josh Brolin is being courted and there are several others from the original cast who’d be welcomed back, but Meloni is for sure joining the mix.

After Deadline broke the news last night about Gordon-Levitt taking a starring role, the actor released a statement describing why he had to be part of this stylish noir thriller. Said Gordon-Levitt: “I love how the first movie uses VFX, not to make fake things look real, but to create a heightened world unburdened by the look and feel of reality. Plus, nobody makes a badass like Mr. Rodriguez.”

Meloni is repped by Gersh and Industry.