Star of the award-winning TV series The Mentalist, 39-year-old Baker will play an attorney on the trail of a murderer in The Killer Inside Me, Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of the Jim Thompson noir classic that stars Casey Affleck.

Gallery: Hot property actor Simon Baker

The story centres on a West Texas sheriff (Affleck) and his downward spiral from a boring small-town cop into a ruthless, sociopathic murderer. The cast also includes Jessica Alba as a prostitute and Kate Hudson as