VANCOUVER — The death of David Carradine has dealt a blow to the indie feature Portland, from Vancouver/L.A.-based Random Bench Productions, which was set to star the veteran actor and begin shooting in July.

‘David’s character is pivotal to our film,’ says executive producer Adrian Salpeter and co-principal at Random Bench, which is producing the film with L.A.-based Iconoclastic Features. ‘We are just weeks from production so it is a big loss for us. David brought real star power to this movie.’

Written and directed by Matthew Mishory, Portland is the story of a young wanderer named Patrick, played by Alex Schemmer (Days of our Lives) whose death connects a trio of damaged souls who try to piece together the events of the dead man’s life and ultimately confront their own pasts in the process.

Carradine, who was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room on Thursday, is best known for the Kill Bill movies and the Kung Fu TV series. He was cast in Portland as a former priest, whom Patrick was trying to track down before his death.

The cast of Portland also includes Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation), Erin Daniels (The L Word), Steven Martini (Lymelife) and Renee Victor (Weeds).

The producers say the film will go ahead, although they are pushing production to late August and are working to recast Carradine’s role.

‘We are going to make this film in David’s memory,’ says co-executive producer Elizabeth Levine, also a partner at Random Bench. ‘We have our work cut out for us to fill his very large shoes. David Carradine was a very talented actor.’

The shoot will take place in California, Portland and on the coastline between LA and San Francisco.

The producers are Edward Singletary, Joe Wihl, and Matthew Mishory of Iconoclastic Features, with Levine and Salpeter as executive producers.