The inevitable Chris Farley biopic is coming
Paul Walter Hauser will star as Saturday Night Live legend Chris Farley in a new biopic directed by Josh Gad
Aux News Chris Farley
Hollywood typically has a “no stone left unturned” approach when it comes to biopics, so it was only a matter of time before they got around to Chris Farley. According to Deadline, the Saturday Night Live star will be portrayed by Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser in a new film from Josh Gad in his directorial debut. The film will be produced by SNL boss Lorne Michaels.
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days Of Summer, The Spectacular Now) are set to pen the screenplay, which is reportedly based on The Chris Farley Show: A Biography In Three Acts written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. The book chronicles the comic’s early years through the start of his career at Second City in Chicago, joining the cast of SNL, and swiftly rising to fame with movies like Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Beverly Hills Ninja. Throughout, struggled with addiction and was in and out of rehab before his untimely death of an overdose at the age of 33.
Insiders for Deadline claimed the project has the blessing of Farley’s family (makes sense, if it’s based on his brother’s book), but this will no doubt be a tricky biopic in terms of how beloved Farley is. Not only is he remembered with extreme fondness by fans, but his legacy has been carefully protected and promoted by his friends and loved ones. The Chris Farley Show featured contributions from many of those friends, as did the 2015 documentary I Am Chris Farley, in which folks like Michaels, Bob Odenkirk, Jay Mohr, Mike Myers, Bob Saget, Dan Aykroyd, Tom Arnold, and more lauded the actor as one of the funniest stars of his generation. In particular, his memory has been preserved by his SNL officemates and close friends Chris Rock, David Spade, and Adam Sandler; Sandler wrote and released a tribute song to Farley as part of his 2018 Netflix special.
In other words, it’s a daunting task for Gad as a first-time director, and Hauser has some big shoes to fill. If anyone’s going to do it, though, Hauser is a strong choice: he’s an Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated actor with a strong comedic background (with credits like The Afterparty, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Reno 911!). No release date is on the books yet for this one, as Deadline reports the project is still being shopped to studios.
26 Comments
I just hope the biopic doesn’t fall into the trap of making Farley out to be some sad clown stereotype. For example, the story circulating around the internet about Farley being demoralized by body shaming in his legendary Chippendale’s sketch with Patrick Swayze. When you listen to the people who knew him, like David Spade, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler, they’re clear that’s not the kind of thing that bothered Farley and instead he was delighted to have killed so hard in that sketch. Farley was a comic genius with a dark streak, and Hollywood always has a hard time grappling with the fact that there’s not always a neat and tidy explanation for a tragic end.
IIRC, Bob Odenkirk is the one who was royally pissed off that Farley did that sketch, and blames it on his ultimate demise. He discusses it in the biography.
PWH is a tremendous pick for this role. When I first saw the pics above, I was worried it was a contest between him and Gad – thank fuck Gad is directing, Gad couldn’t hold Chris’s lunch. (insert joke here)
This will make me cry for a number of reasons. I earnestly think we lost momentum on sublime physical comedy with Farley’s passing, and physical comedy gets WAY too maligned. It’s an art like any other kind of comedy, and Farley was one of the best to ever do it, if not THE best (I see you, Jim Carrey).
Ha I went through the same when I saw the photos. Hauser is a solid pick. That guy has played a lot of real life people – I Tonya, Jewell, Blackbird, and now Farley.
Hopefully Farley doesn’t follow Belushi’s footsteps by having a horrid biopic about him.
The Afterparty showed PWH could pull off the physical comedy too. He’s a damn good choice. I’m always a little leery of biopics, but this has my interest piqued.
Yeah, same. I find Gad irritatingly distracting.
Not exactly his most iconic sketch, but still one of my absolute favorites.
Fingers crossed they feature the sketch where they tricked him with Colombian decaffeinated coffee crystals
not sure what qualifies gad for this beyond ‘is also fat’
You missed the fact that he is directing the film.
Representation extends to directing. Fat people are the only people allowed to direct movies about fat people now.
Nah, it’s like when Marvel hires a woman to direct the Marvels or a Black man to direct Black Panther. Him being a fat director was a requirement for this project.
those were the lack of qualifications i was referring to.
Yeah but he nails that one.
Welp, Chris Farley may be beloved by Tom Arnold, but neck-bagged neckbeards are making a biopic because no bones go unpicked by Lorne Michaels.
At least they can see their necks
Josh Gad is awful. Can we get someone else?
Chris Farley has to think about his entire life before he acts in a movie opposite David Spade!
So is it going to be as not funny as Chris Farley? 90 minutes of a fat guy yelling didn’t strike me as interesting in the 90s and it doesn’t now.
Oh stop being jealous of the other fat guy
I met Chris Farley once in DC in the 90s. Well, “met” is an exaggeration… he was hammered as fuck, growling at people and spitting on cars in Georgetown. I hope that scene makes it into the film.
The fact that a relative wrote the book and will presumably be involved in the movie production is always a red flag. Granted, maybe focusing on the early part of his career keeps them from having to dive into the sadder material.
Having read the book, it’s a warts and all portrayal of Farley and his family. I wonder how the biopic will treat Farley’s dad, who was substantially north of 400 pounds and had a deeply dysfunctional relationship with Chris. I believe it was Chris’ priest who flat-out blames the dad for Farley’s death in the book.
That’s encouraging (for lack of a better word). Might make for more than a hagiography.