Actor Eric Bana has said he agreed to do "The Forgiven" as he felt the role was one that is "hard to come across". The "Troy" actor plays the role of Piet Blomfeld, a notorious murderer seeking redemption, in the Roland Joffe-directed drama. The film also stars Forest Whitaker as Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

''I read the script and loved it, and couldn't believe that Roland was asking me to do it. At that stage, Forest was already attached, so I was able to read it with him in that role. I was just beside myself that he was coming to me to play Piet," Bana told Collider.