LAURA HARRING JOINS 'PUNISHER' CAST

'Mulholland Drive' sappho-star Laura Elena Harring has joined the cast of 'The Punisher', a comic-book actioner starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta.

The Artisan Entertainment/Marvel Studios project revolves around a vigilante hero (Jane) who dispenses harsh justice to criminals after his wife and children are slain by the mob.

Harring will play Ivia Saint, the ruthless, vengeful wife of the film's evil Howard Saint (Travolta). Saint is a man involved in the criminal underworld who manages to conceal his violent beginnings and become a paragon of society. When the Saints' son is brutally slain, a darker, vengeful side re-emerges in the man.

Writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh will start shooting the film next month in Florida. It marks Hensleigh's feature directing debut after a career that includes writing such films as 'Jumanji', 'The Saint' and 'Die Hard With a Vengeance'.

Harring was most recently in theatres in New Line Cinema's 'Willard'. The actress just wrapped shooting the indie feature 'The Poet' opposite Dougray Scott.