Having spent eleven seasons within the role of the well-natured goofus Luke Dunphy on Modern Family, Nolan Gould definitely knows his way around a hit TV comedy. But surprise, surprise, the actor is flipping to a different medium for his first big post-MF project, although it sounds like the new gig does indeed have something in common with his most famous outing.
Nolan Gould’s next foray in front of a camera (at least professionally) will be for the upcoming feature titled The Nana Project, which sadly isn’t a Blair Witch Project spoof centered on evil grannies. Rather, the new film will be a mockumentary-style comedy, according to Deadline, which is obviously right in Gould’s acting wheelhouse. The actor will be co-starring opposite the Oscar-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl, of The Fisher King and Hustlers fame, and Will Peltz, last seen in Manifest Season 3 and the feature 13 Minutes.
In The Nana Project, Gould and Peltz will respectively star as Andrew and Cody, the estranged grandsons of Ruehl’s Helen “Nana” Lewis, a chess master living within the Timeless Acres Retirement Home. The film will follow the trio, who earn the help of Nana’s friends, as they head out on a road trip with a destination goal of the state championship, assuming they make it that far.
Another noteworthy name on the docket for The Nana Project is Batwoman star and Head of the Class alum Robin Givens, who will be behind the camera as the comedy’s director. On top of two Riverdale episodes earlier this year, Givens also helmed three different features that released in 2021, as well as a segment in the creepy Shudder anthology Horror Noire. She’s about as prolific as can be during COVID times, and Givens will be working from a screenplay penned by the trio of Eric Ulloa, Anthony Del Negro and the Tony-winning Carl Moellenberg.
To be sure, when Nolan Gould wasn’t walking in his fictional father’s footsteps on Modern Family, he definitely still took part in other projects, and also got quite buff in the process. From Friends with Benefits to The To Do List to 2019’s Yes, Gould was more known for his non-Luke roles on the big screen, though he did lend his talents to such TV projects as R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, What’s Up North and Sofia the First.
Nolan Gould is only the latest Modern Family vet to land a follow-up project. Sarah Hyland recently hosted the competition special Play-Doh Squished on IMDbTV (which should totally get ordered as a series), while his other TV sister Ariel Winter quickly landed a post-Alex role in the film Don’t Log Off. Curb Your Enthusiasm fans were able to enjoy a recent appearance from Julie Bowen, while Sofia Vergara is set to head up a new series focusing on the drug-running Griselda Blanco, a.k.a. the Cocaine Grandmother. Definitely a different kind of grandparent than the one at the heart of The Nana Project.
While waiting to hear more about The Nana Project, as well as waiting to hear whether or not the Modern Family cast will take part in a fan-demanded reunion in ten years, be sure to head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see all the big shows debuting soon.
