Nolte is to voice the leader of six-armed angels the Nephilim in Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic starring Russell Crowe

With less than three months to go before its US release date of 8 March, director Darren Aronofsky has announced a new addition to his biblical epic Noah: Nick Nolte, who will voice Samyaza, the leader of fallen angels the Nephilim.

"Long live the nephilim! it was an honour", Aronofsky tweeted, along with a rather craggy picture of the star he described as a "legend". His CGI angel alter ego is apparently 11ft tall with six arms and no wings.

It was a role originally associated with Mark Margolis, an Aronofsky regular who has appeared in all of the director's films, and who also recently starred in Breaking Bad as drug runner Héctor 'Tio' Salamanca. Aronofsky also tweeted that there was still a role for Margolis as fellow angel Magog, along with Frank Langella, who presumably plays another angel alongside the pair.

just added the legend nick nolte as the watcher samyaza in #noah . long live the nephilim! it was an honor.
— darren aronofsky (@DarrenAronofsky) January 14, 2014

The film stars Russell Crowe as Noah, building an ark to survive an apocalyptic flood from God, while also fending off Ray Winstone's army who are bent on destroying it. Jennifer Connelly, whose career took off following her visceral role in Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, plays Noah's wife, while the rest of the cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman.

Unlike previous Aronofsky films such as Black Swan and The Wrestler, this is a mega-budget film, filled with CGI to render the flood as well as the animals two by two. Aronofsky was told by visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic that Noah involved the most complex rendering they'd ever attempted, "a nice badge of honour" according to the director.

There have been reports of tussles between director and studio over the final cut of the film, with varied reactions from test audiences – one talent rep close to the film told the Hollywood Reporter: "Darren is not made for studio films. He's very dismissive. He doesn't care about [Paramount's] opinion."

The role of a fallen angel is arguably a good fit for the 72-year-old Nolte, the three-time Oscar nominee who was given three years probation in 2002 after having been found driving under the influence of GHB. In recent years he has performed a series of acclaimed roles, including the alcoholic father Paddy Conlon in 2011 mixed martial arts drama Warrior, for which he was Oscar-nominated. He's next appearing in Hateship Loveship, a drama starring Kristen Wiig.