Comedianne Also Talks New Project ‘Clown Girl’
Exclusive: With scene-stealing “Paul” and “MacGruber” supporting roles already in the can, plus the leading role in the upcoming Judd Apatow/Paul Feig female-centered comedy “Bridesmaids” (which we’re particularly excited for), comedian Kristen Wiig shows no signs of slowing down. Yesterday we had a chance to sit with the “Saturday Night Live” actress and talk about a few the upcoming projects which she is spearheading herself including “Imogene,” and, “Clown Girl,” and a rumor making the rounds that turns out to be false.
“Imogene,” a dramatic-comedy we first reported to be helmed by husband-wife duo Shari Spring Berman and Robert Pulcini (“American Splendor,” “The Extra Man“), sports a script by Michelle Morgan (upcoming Heigl flick “Is He The One“) and sounds like the most developed crop of the bunch. It’s also much darker from what we’d expect from Wiig.
“It’s basically about a girl who kind of pretends to kill herself,” she stopped for a comedic pause, “Starting off really funny, isn’t it? She does it to get her recently ex-boyfriend’s attention. She ends up having to go live with her mom, whom she hasn’t seen in years. It’s kind of about going back home, so she finds her life again and gets reintroduced to her family, kind of a coming home story.” Those already jonesing for the project, which sorta sounds like the Steve Carell storyline from “Little Miss Sunshine,” best pray to the financing gods that be (aka the Ellis estate). “We’re trying to get financing for it, I hope it all works out. We have to kind of get things organized quickly. It’s looking good for summer but I don’t want to jinx it.” For now, any official casting/attachments remains under-wraps and any tracking board rumors you may have read are (as they usually can be) wrong (we asked).
Something the comedienne optioned herself with an eye to write, “Clown Girl,” has bizarre cult-film written all over it with a key location titled Baloneytown and a keen interest in clown fetishists. The story follows Nita (likely to be Wiig) as a clown struggling to make ends meet and putting the man of her dreams (appropriately named Rex Galore) through clown college. Unfortunately, it seems like this one is much further away, with the major culprit being Kristen’s stuffed schedule. “I haven’t had much time to work on the script because of my schedule, and I’m not quite sure how I’m going to adapt it so I probably shouldn’t comment on it. But it’s an amazing book and I hope to do it justice.” Looks like we’ll have to deal with “Vulgar” just a wee bit longer as far as recent, peculiar clown-flicks go.
As for “Zoolander 2,” which Paramount is apparently still mulling over after receiving the script almost two months ago, Wiig has heard nothing about her supposed attachment. “Oh, I am? That’s news to me,” she responded, puzzled. “I don’t know anything about it.” Seems like that puts the lid on for that one.
More from the interview coming soon. “Paul” hits theaters March 18th.
