“Four Brothers” features a supporting cast of award-winning actors and rising stars that complement the performances of the four leads.

Terrence Howard, whose star-making turn in the Sundance smash produced by John Singleton, “Hustle & Flow,” takes on the role of Lt. Green, a childhood friend of the brothers who has made good on the police force. “Green used to spend a lot of time inside the Mercer house,” Howard notes. “He played hockey with them – their lives just went in different directions.”

Despite the brothers’ willingness to take the law into their own hands, Green still has an affinity for them that runs deep. “I think Green realizes that they’re fighting for this woman who was completely innocent – that they’re determined to stand and fight for the righteous,” says Howard. “This is the one person in the world that showed them a spirit of love and someone took away that light. He sees them thrust back into this dark place, huddled together to find some emotional warmth, but they don’t know how to show it.”

Actress Sofia Vergara plays Sofi, Angel’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. When his mother’s death brings him back to town, their relationship changes in ways that neither of them could predict. “Angel’s always been in control in his relationships with women, and Sofi’s no different,” says Vergara. “But he does love her and he realizes that she’s the woman he wants for the rest of his life.

“Sofi’s a very passionate woman – full of life and crazy,” Vergara says. “She’s madly in love with Angel and she’s not afraid of trying to get what she wants – she’s not scared of these four boys. She won’t let them take over.”

Taraji P. Henson, who also worked with Singleton on “Hustle & Flow,” plays the part of Camille, Jeremiah’s wife, who is trying to keep her husband on the straight-and-narrow path abandoned by his brothers. Nervous about their visit but unwilling to break the bonds of brotherhood, Camille finds herself in the middle of Jeremiah’s crisis of character.

Taking on the role of Victor Sweet, the gangster who rules Detroit’s underworld, is Chiwetel Ejiofor, a British actor best known for his roles in “Love Actually” and Woody Allen’s “Melinda and Melinda.”

“Chiwetel’s a British actor playing a Detroit gangster from the Midwest, and he really tears into the role,” enthuses Singleton. “Sweet is the villain of the movie; he and the Mercer boys are all from the same place. They’ve known each other for a long time. And now they’re all embroiled again over the death of Evelyn Mercer.”