A Chris Farley biopic is in the works with Paul Walter Hauser to star as the tragic SNL star who died from a drug overdose in 1997 aged 33.
Emmy award winner Hauser, 37, will fulfil a long-held dream of playing the late star in a project directed by actor Josh Gad, 43, and produced by 79-year-old Lorne Michaels’ Broadway video banner, per THR.
The screenplay will be written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and based on the New York Times best-selling biography The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.
The biopic has the blessing of the Farley family and is currently being pitched in the film industry.
In 2021 Hauer spoke of his long-time desire to play Hauser on screen, telling THR: ‘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 stuff and his movies.
A Chris Farley biopic is in the works with Paul Walter Hauser to star as the tragic SNL star who died from a drug overdose in 1997 aged 33 (pictured 1996)
Emmy award winner Hauser, 37, will fulfil a long-held dream of playing the late star in a project
‘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 movie have a very small time window, and it’s getting smaller by the week.’
Chris found rapid fame after being cast on Saturday Night Live in 1990 – working alongside comedians like Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.
NBC fired Chris and many others from the show five years later, but the actor soon began a successful film career, releasing Tommy Boy in 1995 and Black Sheep in 1996.
Despite the success, Chris struggled with addiction and obesity problems – he checked into rehab 17 times during his years of fame.
Chris was found dead in his apartment, killed by an overdose of cocaine and morphine, in December 1997.
His body was found by his brother John.
Coronary atherosclerosis — a narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle — was a significant contributing factor in Farley’s death.
Chris found rapid fame after being cast on Saturday Night Live in 1990 – working alongside comedians like Adam Sandler (pictured) and Chris Rock
The project will be directed by actor Josh Gad, 43, (left) and produced by Lorne Michaels’ (right) Broadway video banner, per THR .
Despite the success, Chris struggled with addiction and obesity problems – he checked into rehab 17 times during his years of fame
Chris was found dead in his apartment, killed by an overdose of cocaine and morphine, in December 1997 (pictured seven months before his death)
Blood tests also found Farley had taken antidepressant fluoxetine and an antihistamine, but those did not contribute to his death.
Farley was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 296 pounds at the time of his death.
