Summary
- Josh Gad will direct a big Chris Farley biopic produced by Lorne Michaels. Paul Walter Hauser will play Farley in a film that blends comedy and drama.
- Hauser, who has balanced comedic and dramatic roles throughout his career, aims to portray the real Chris Farley, adding depth and showcasing Farley’s true persona.
- Hauser has dreamt about playing Farley for multiple years and has a distinct vision for the biopic.
The legendary comedian Chris Farley (SNL, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep) is getting the biopic treatment, with Lorne Michaels producing. The film is set to be Josh Gad’s directorial debut and is written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, a writing team with a long history who have penned The Spectacular Now, The Disaster Artist, (500) Days of Summer, The Fault in Our Stars, and more. Farley will be played by Paul Walter Hauser, famous for the titular role in Clint Eastwood’s film Richard Jewell and his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance in the Apple TV series Black Bird.
Hauser has certainly showed his dramatic bona fides in titles like BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods, and Kingdom, but began with small roles in comedy series. He starred in Too Late with Adam Carolla, It’s Always Funny in Philadelphia, Community, Key & Peele, Superstore, and other shows, solidifying his status as a funny character actor. This would continue in later shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Reno 911!, Cobra Kai, and The Afterparty. He’s a student of comedy, and has explained his love of Chris Farley and passion for portraying the comedian in the past. Farley told The Daily Beast in 2022:
“I feel like I’m called to do it if the movie is getting made. No one alive will do or can do what I would do with that part. And that doesn’t mean they’re not talented or good. It just means if that movie is getting made, I’m the guy. I’m 36. I think there’s a couple more years where I could still play him. I would say after 40, I wouldn’t want to play Chris. I think I’d be too old.
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Check out our interview with Hauser (and co-star Jacob Tremblay) for the recent animated movie Orion and the Dark, written by Charlie Kaufman:
Paul Walter Hauser Has Big Ideas About Playing Chris Farley
Hauser continued to describe his vision for a Chris Farley biopic, saying, “I think I’d like to see it a little more dramatized and see Chris’ true point of view. Everybody’s always saying stuff like, ‘And then Chris took a crap out of a 40-story window in the middle of Manhattan!’ We don’t need another ‘Chris is stupid and fat’ movie. We already got the documentary stuff, we’ve already got the comedy sketches. I want to see a movie that’s about the real Chris.” He elaborated:
And then what’s fun is, as an actor, I get to code-switch on screen. And you see me go from being the real Chris to, [
breaks into Farley impression
] ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to get in character and start scaring folks!’ I could get into that whole thing and it would become a very showy performance by the nature of the psychology.
“That could be a fun, showy role for me as an actor,” added Hauser, “but also give Chris a bit of a voice and perspective that says, ‘Hey, this guy had feelings and thoughts that were a little unattended to, and instead he sacrificed himself at every turn to try to be the man he thought people wanted him to be, which was a boy.'” It’s clear that Hauser has thought a lot about Farley and would honor him with a considerate and layered performance. Watch this space for more updates on the film.
