NEWS
Jim Carrey to play Andy Kaufman in "Man On The Moon"
18 Apr 1998 Though this isn’t really fresh news for most of you, Jim Carrey did land the Andy Kaufman role in the upcoming biopic, "Man On The Moon", directed by Milos Forman.
Carrey competed not only with such worthy opponents as Edward Norton, John Cusack, Kevin Spacey and Hank Azaria, but also with an impostor who sent Forman a filmed audition pretending to be Gary Oldman (?!). According to Reuters/Variety, Nicolas Cage, also said to be one of the stronger contestants, decided not to send a tape to Forman, taking himself out of the run. This was likely due to a probable summer start for "Superman Reborn," which would have made the scheduling for "Man On The Moon" very difficult.
After seeing Carrey’s demo tape, Forman decided to give him the part, as he apparently "became" Kaufman, even using the comedian’s actual bongos. It was also said that Forman’s decision was based as well on a viewing of Carrey’s upcoming movie "The Truman Show".
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski ("Ed Wood", "The People vs. Larry Flint") are scripting "Man On The Moon" and Danny DeVito is producing it via his Universal-based Jersey Films company. DeVito is also appearing in the movie as the comic's manager, George Shapiro. The most recent buzz involving the movie’s casting bring the names of Paul Giamatti as Kaufman’s closest friend, Bob Zmuda and Courtney Love (this one not confirmed yet) as Andy’s girlfriend, Lynne Margulies. Glen Gilbernetti (World Championship Wrestling's "Disco Inferno") is also said to play the part of the professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler.
For some extra information on the script and on Andy Kaufman, you can visit the "Andy Kaufman Home Page" at http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com.
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