Anthony Behar

Paul Walter Hauser's Chris Farley biopic dreams have 'a very small window'

Paul Walter Hauser made his dream crystal clear in December 2019, when a fan mentioned he should "be handed a Chris Farley biopic immediately":

Nothing has changed in 2021, as the 34-year-old actor shared in a new interview with Brian Davids for The Hollywood Reporter.

"I wanted to do a Chris Farley movie where he’s in rehab for half of the film, and for the other half of the movie, he’s doing his SNL stuff and his movies. I think I have a really great take on that story, but I’m trying to lose weight and I’m trying to redefine myself as a person of healthy choice-making, and as an actor. So the days of doing Fatty Arbuckle, Chris Farley or Ignatius J. Reilly in a Confederacy of Dunces movie have a very small time window, and it’s getting smaller by the week.”  

Davids added that Hauser once "spoke to the Farley family about the potential project, but it ultimately didn't work out."

Farley was a comedic force before a cocaine and morphine overdose killed him in December 1997 at just 33 years old. He lives on in Saturday Night Live and Tommy Boy lore.

Hauser is a reputed actor in his own right, as acclaimed directors Spike Lee and Craig Gillespie have cast him more than once: I, Tonya (2017), BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020), to name a few.

The Michigan native also starred as the titular character in 2019's Richard Jewell, directed by Clint Eastwood.

Hauser's latest role comes in Cruella, directed by Gillespie. The live-action prequel hit theaters today (May 28) and stars Emma Stone as a young woman named Estella coming of age in 1970s London, eventually transforming in Cruella de Vil. Hauser plays Estella's friend and fellow criminal, Horace.

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