Tony Winner Dan Fogler Signs On to Play Comedian Sam Kinison

Tony winner Dan Fogler is about to trade in his “magic foot” for a primal scream. The actor, who originated the role of William Barfée in the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, will play vitriolic stand-up comic Sam Kinison in the HBO biopic Brother Sam, according to Variety.

The film, directed by Tom Shadyac, is based on Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison, written by his brother and manager, Bill Kinison, and Steve Delsohn. It tells of the life and death of Kinison, who went from being a bible-thumping evangelical preacher to a shrieking and often insulting comedian of wide fame before he died in a car crash at the age of 38. American Splendor scribes Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini penned the movie script.

Fogler won the 2005 Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Spelling Bee, in which he played a peanut-allergic, middle school misfit with a mucous membrane disorder and a magic foot which he used to spell out words with some fancy footwork. He most recently appeared in The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall. His numerous off-Broadway credits include The Voyage of the Carcass and C-R-E-P-U-S-C-L-E which later served as the basis for Spelling Bee. His film credits include Balls of Fury, Good Luck Chuck, Kung Fu Panda and Fanboys among others.

David Permut of Permut Presentations is producing the film along with Shadyac's Shady Acres. The two reportedly spent eight years trying to get the project made at Universal Pictures before taking it to HBO.