Hugh Grant's latest venture into the romantic comedy genre already has a pretty impressive bunch of actors lined up, with Marisa Tomei, Allison Janney and Bella Heathcote already set to star, but now the project has landed two more great names to the cast.
J.K. Simmons and Chris Elliott, according to The Hollywood Reporter, have both signed on for roles in the Marc Lawrence-written and directed untitled film, which is currently aiming to start production in April. The trade notes that the film begins back in 1998 and centers on a character named Ray Michaels (Grant), a Hollywood screenwriter at the top of his game having just won an Academy Award. Unfortuantely, 15 years later he's left flat broke, divorced and without any ideas for new scripts. In order to just keep himself afloat he signs up to teach a screenwriting class at a small East Coast college, and winds up falling in love with one of his older students (Tomei) - a single mom who has gone back to school.
Simmons is attached to play Dr. Lerner, a friend of Ray's who is the thead of the English department at the school; while Elliott will play "Jim, a Shakespeare professor and next-door neighbor to Michaels."
As one of the most popular character actors in Hollywood, Simmons has been incredibly busy of late, recently appearing in the alien abduction thriller Dark Skies and starring alongside Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad in the Steve Jobs biopic jOBS, which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival. He also recently finished filming the Andrew Fleming-directed comedy Barefoot with Evan Rachel Wood and Scott Speedman. Elliott, meanwhile, has been busy mostly on the small screen, playing Alyson Hannigan's dad on How I Met Your Mother, and starring on the Adult Swim series Eagleheart.
