Chris Farley will be played by Paul Walter Hauser in his upcoming biopic “Ready to Honor Christopher”

Josh Gad will make his directorial debut with the project

Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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Paul Walter Hauser will portray the late comedian Chris Farley in a biopic.

The 37-year-old Emmy award winner is set to play Farley, who died of a drug overdose in December 1997 at the age of 33. The film is Josh Gad’s directorial debut, as the US magazine “The Daily Telegraph” reports. diversity and deadline.

The film is based on the book The Chris Farley Show: A biography in three actswhich was written by Farley’s brother Tom along with Tanner Colby. Saturday Night Live The producer is creator Lorne Michaels, outlets reported.

On Instagram on Friday, April 12, Hauser wrote about the project: “This is a story of glory. Not a story from the crypt. Ready to honor Christopher.”

Related: Chris Farley once started a ‘huge’ food fight at O’Hare Airport, his cousin reveals

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SNL Alum Farley is known for films such as Black sheep, Tommy Young And Beverly Hills Ninja.

Back in 2021, Hauser, who has starred in films such as Cruella And I, Tonyatold The Hollywood Reporter that he had previously asked the Farley family if they would like to cast the actor in a film.

Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images

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“I wanted to make a film with Chris Farley where he spends half the film in rehab and the other half of the film is his SNL things and his films,” Hauser said at the time about his pitch.

“I think I have a really great interpretation of that story, but I’m trying to lose weight and redefine myself as a person with healthy choices and as an actor. The days of playing Fatty Arbuckle, Chris Farley or Ignatius J. Reilly in a Confederation of Idiots Films have a very small window of opportunity and it is getting smaller every week.”

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