Paul Rudd will be following up his big-budget action role in Ant-Man by taking a step into the waters of bittersweet tragicomedy. It’s been announced that the Anchorman co-star and genial smiler has been cast in an adaptation of Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals Of Caregiving, the story of a man who loses his family and is forced to find work as a caregiver for a difficult, paralyzed young man named Trev. The two eventually bond, embarking on a road trip to find the father who abandoned Trev after he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Longtime Late Show With David Letterman writer and producer Rob Burnett will direct, with Letterman’s Worldwide Pants production company co-producing.
Rudd’s having a good year, in terms of breaking into new filmic genres. After taking on the role of a two-fisted, size-changing superhero, expanding his public profile with a sadness-tinged indie comedy seems like the natural next step in the actor’s master plan to unleash his chameleonic, persona-shifting talents on the world.