Rapper DMX and actor Tracy Morgan made the Hollywood trades yesterday after joining separate film projects shot in both North and South Carolina.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been cast in the horror action film "The Bleeding" from Indifferent Entertainment, while Morgan will join Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel in David O. Russell's romantic comedy "Nailed."

"The Bleeding," directed by Charles Picerni, centers on an ex-Army Ranger who stumbles across a family of vampires in a former chemical weapons factory-turned-nightclub while searching for the killer of his parents.

Also cast in the film are Vinnie Jones, Michael Matthias, Michael Madsen, Armand Assante, William McNamara, Pittsburgh Slim, Rachelle Leah and Kat Von D. Shooting begins next month in North Carolina.

Morgan's character in "Nailed" is still being finalized, according to Daily Variety. James Marsden stars as a small-town boyfriend of Biel's character Alice, a naive waitress who gets a nail shot into her head, causing erratic and outrageous behavior. She heads to Washington to fight for better health care and ends up falling for a clueless new congressman (Gyllenhaal) who must summon the political courage to save her.

Catherine Keener will play a self-serving congresswoman, while Morgan will likely be an injured compatriot of Alice's who has given up on love. The film is now in preproduction in South Carolina, with principal photography set to begin April 14.