Actress Jessica Chastain has joined the cast of the upcoming drama The Wettest County in the World, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Jessica Chastain will play the love interest of Tom Hardy's character in the John Hillcoat production. Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf star as the Bondurant brothers, who take up bootlegging during Prohibition, carving out their own form of the American Dream. Jessica Chastain's character is said to come from the big city, where she was connected to gangsters, although she now lives in a small Virginia town.

John Hillcoat is directing from a script by Nick Cave, adapted from the Matt Bondurant novel which was loosely based on the exploits of Bondurant's grandfather and his two great uncles.

Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing for Red Wagon Productions. The producers are eyeing a February 2011 start date for principal photography.