Chris Farley biopic star Paul Walter Hauser consulted ‘SNL’ stars

Paul Walter Hauser is sharing an update on his forthcoming Chris Farley biopic.

The Richard Jewell star, who will wrestle Q.T. Marshall on Friday night in Philadelphia, discusses the status of his Josh Gad-directed movie about the late Saturday Night Live comedian during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Hauser — who can currently be seen in Americana, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and The Naked Gun, all playing in theaters — reveals that he has consulted with several of Farley’s friends and associates in anticipation of playing the comedian, who died at age 33 in 1997 following a drug overdose. He also opens up about being five years older than the late SNL star was when he died.

Read EW’s conversation with Hauser regarding Farley, as well as his upcoming wrestling face-off with Marshall at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What has the preparation been like for your Chris Farley biopic? Have you been in contact with any of Farley’s Saturday Night Live friends and associates like Adam Sandler, David Spade, or Lorne Michaels? 

PAUL WALTER HAUSER: I haven’t started preparation on it yet because it’s such an undertaking that I’m gonna wait until the film is officially greenlit and we have a start date. I’ll probably start preparing two to four months in advance. 

Right now, I’ve only really spoken with Lorne Michaels, Tim Meadows, and David Spade. They’ve all been super gracious and cool about it. And you know, I think it’s a difficult subject to talk about because everyone feels horrible about how it went and how it ended, but there’s also great glimmers of fond remembrance and humor as they retell some of the funniest stories about Chris.

What have those conversations been like?

I think Lorne Michaels is more matter of fact. I think David Spade’s more anecdotal, and he’s probably understandably trying to think of some of the good times. And then I think Tim Meadows is the most interesting of the three that I’ve spoken to, ’cause he knew Chris the longest. He met Chris back in the Midwest before SNL. 

So I heard a lot of good stories of, like, Chris and Tim going to art house films and then walking around Chicago for two hours after the movie, just talking about the movie and having intellectual conversations and creative conversations that weren’t so much about fame or money or anything of a high-status nature. It was more that they were really grateful and present. And motivated in the place they were in at that time.

How has it felt to undertake this project, especially given that you’re older than Farley was when he died at this point?

Yeah. I’m 38, so I’ll be 39 in October. And, you know, I think there’ll be a certain age where I won’t wanna do it. So hopefully it gets made in the next year or two, because I don’t wanna be 42 years old playing Chris at 25. But I feel good about the undertaking. I think I know how to do it. It’s just a matter of doing your homework, putting a lot of heart into it, and being a good collaborator. Anything else is insecurity or ego. It’s good to distill it to the simplification of what it actually is.

How did your wrestling matchup with Q.T. Marshall come about?

I was just doing a broadcasting gig for All Elite Wrestling, which is like the parent company over Ring of Honor, ROH. And they often will bring some wrestler personality in to mess with the rest of the broadcasters, and you do a fun segment. And they had told me that I was gonna do something like that with this guy, Q.T. Marshall, and they said that maybe he’ll throw a drink. Something like Jerry “The King” Lawler and Andy Kaufman back in the 1980s. And I was like, “Oh, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.” 

And when he did it, you know, I expected it, and it was fine. But I smelled the drink he had thrown on me, and it smelled like alcohol — I think it was vodka or something. But I was over three years sober at the time, I’m almost four years sober this October. And so I obviously got offended. I think maybe I jumped to conclusions and thought that he had planned that and was trying to mess with me. I don’t really know what the real story is, to be honest — I’ve tried to get it out of ’em and I dunno how sincere it is. So we talked about doing a match, and now we’re going to quash it, squash the beef.

What are your expectations heading into the match?

My expectations are very much just wanting to put on a good show and keep up with him. Q.T. Marshall is one of these guys that’s kind of a wrestler’s wrestler, where every wrestler, even if they don’t like him personally, they all respect what he does — which is the case for most of them. I appreciate that he was willing to get in the ring with me and to do this show, but I also think he’s probably grossly underestimating me, so that’ll be fun. Hopefully I can prove something to him and the rest of the people watching.

How have you been preparing for this matchup?

Just trying to get my weight down and more than anything, doing some strength training and just trying to rehab my ribs. I had four acute rib fractures and a hematoma on my body from matches back in April, so I took the summer off. I was trying to heal my broken ribs while doing a movie in New York, then had my daughter, and then a couple weeks ago I got back in the ring for the first time in four months.

I enjoyed the clip where you brought your Golden Globe for Black Bird into the ring a couple of years ago.

Oh, that was fun.

I was surprised, though, that the trophy itself didn’t end up actually getting used as a weapon, especially given that you got a guitar smashed on your head. If you ever win an Oscar, would you bring it into the ring for a similar gag and make up for that missed opportunity?

Yeah, absolutely. That would make for great wrestling press and probably horrible Hollywood press. At this point, I’ve had so much bad press in the last month that I’m kind of just gonna accept it. At some point, you have to either please everyone or please yourself. So I’m just trying to have fun at this point. Wrestling has been a really fun outlet from the exhaustion of Hollywood.

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Hauser will face off against Marshall as part of Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Friday night in Philadelphia. The Fight Without Honor can be viewed on ROH’s WatchROH.com.

Americana, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and The Naked Gun are now playing in theaters.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.