Report: Grand Rapids native cast to play Chris Farley in new biopic

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids native has landed his dream role in a new movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Walter Hauser has been cast to depict infamous comedian Chris Farley in a new biopic.

The screenplay will be based off of “The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts,” a New York Times best-selling biography by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. “Saturday Night Live” icon Lorne Michaels will serve as a producer on the film, and it will be the directing debut of actor Josh Gad. According to THR, the untitled project “has the blessing of the Farley family.”

Farley cut his teeth at Second City Theatre in Chicago before becoming a household name with his loud and bombastic performances on “SNL.” He went on to star in several classic comedies, including “Tommy Boy” and “Black Sheep.”

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His rise to stardom, however, was cut short. Farley, who had long struggled with obesity and drug and alcohol abuse, died of an overdose in 1997. He was 33 years old.

In 2021, Hauser told THR that he had wanted to portray the actor for years but couldn’t get a project to come to fruition. Hauser, who is also heavyset, was set to let the dream go for the sake of his health.

“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,” Hauser told THR in 2021. “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.”

Hauser was born in Grand Rapids but was raised in Saginaw Township and graduated from Valley Lutheran High School. He has played roles in several notable films, including “I, Tonya,” “BlackKklansman,” “Cruella” and “Da 5 Bloods.”

The Michigan native found his breakout role as the lead character in Clint Eastwood’s 2019 film “Richard Jewell,” depicting the security guard who found a backpack filled with pipe bombs at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In January, Hauser won the Primetime Emmy for best supporting actor in a series or movie for his role in “Black Bird.”

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