Today, David Wain revealed on Instagram that his Netflix film about National Lampoon magazine co-founder Doug Kenney – titled A Futile and Stupid Gesture – began its first day of production. Based on Josh Karp’s 2006 book of the same name, the film is packed with comedy pros playing the comedy pros who came before them, from Will Forte as Kenney to Jon Daly as Bill Murray to Joel McHale as his former Community castmate Chevy Chase. While we wait to see more photos from the Futile and Stupid Gesture set, we thought it’d be fun to break down the major roles with some side-by-side photos because, as you’ll see, Wain and his team have done an impressive job casting what’s sure to be a comedy nerd’s dream film. In no particular order:
Will Forte as Doug Kenney
Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard
Thomas Lennon as Michael O’Donoghue
Natasha Lyonne as Anne Beatts
Joel McHale as Chevy Chase
Jackie Tohn as Gilda Radner
Jon Daly as Bill Murray
John Gemberling as John Belushi
Seth Green as Christopher Guest
Rick Glassman as Harold Ramis
Paul Scheer as Paul Shaffer
Matt Lucas as Tony Hendra
Matt Walsh as Matty Simmons
Neil Casey as Brian McConnachie
Lonny Ross as Ivan Reitman
Armen Weitzman as Lorne Michaels
Additional cast: Elvy Yost as Kenney and Beard’s assistant Mary Martello, Camille Gauty as Kenney’s former wife Alex Garcia-Mata, Emmy Rossum as Kenney’s fiancée Kathryn Walker, and Martin Mull an “imagined, older version of Kenney.†Jonathan Stern and Peter Principato serve as co-producers alongside screenwriters Michael Colton and John Aboud (Childrens Hospital).
For more on National Lampoon magazine, check out our look back on its origins here.