Ricky Martin Eyes Assassin Role

February 21, 2001 -- Ricky Martin may go from "La Vida Loca" in the pop world to "La Vida Muy Loca" on the big screen: The singer's reportedly considering a role as a revolutionary assassin.

Martin is on a list of potential cast members for The Assassination, a coming feature from Highland Crest Pictures that has George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) tapped as director, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on the 1961 assassination of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, the film is also looking to land big-name stars Ed Harris as a CIA operative, James Coburn as an ambassador, and Anthony Quinn as the dictator.

In other words, it's not to be confused with 1995's Assassins, starring another Latin hunk, Antonio Banderas. (Coincidentally, Banderas is lining up his own film about a revolutionary, a biopic of Mexican icon Emiliano Zapata).

Martin, whose camp confirmed the discussions but said that no commitments have been made, would make his feature debut with the project, though it's not the first time he's been considered for a big-screen role.

Last spring, his name was kicked around as a co-star with Natalie Portman in an update of the 1987 smash Dirty Dancing, set in the sweltering summer of Miami.

The project has yet to materialize, but the former Menudo star is not a total rookie in the acting world. He has appeared in several episodes of General Hospital (in 1994-95), as well as on a number of Spanish-language soaps.

Curiously, Marc Anthony — perhaps the second-most well-known Latin-pop crossover act in the country — will appear with Salma Hayek in In the Time of the Butterflies, another movie about Dominican dictator Trujillo, which recently wrapped its filming.