After playing a pair of lovers on NBC’s workplace comedy The Office over the course of roughly twenty episodes, Amy Ryan and Steve Carell will be reuniting for Amazon’s Beautiful Boy. Carell has been on board the project for about two months now, but Ryan has just recently joined the cast, according to Deadline.
The true story follows Carell’s David, a father who is severely impacted by his son Nic’s addiction to methamphetamine. Ryan will play David’s ex-wife, Vicki, who became estranged from the family after David won primary custody, but is back to help her son. Timothée Chalamet of Interstellar fame is set to portray Nic.
Beautiful Boy could break the pair back into the awards consideration in 2018/2019, as not only will Ryan and Carell surely deliver compelling performances, but they are surrounded by a slew of talented people behind the camera as well. First off, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, which has a stellar track record when it comes to producing Oscar contenders, will be backing the film. In the past few years alone, the company has been responsible for Best Picture winners 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight and Best Picture nominees The Tree of Life, Selma and The Big Short (the latter of which also starred Carell).
Additionally, Oscar-nominated Lion writer Luke Davies will adapt the screenplay from David Sheff’s 2008 memoir, Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction. Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown) is on board to co-write and direct the film.
Carell as Michael Scott and Ryan as Holly Flax had undeniable screen chemistry together during their time on The Office, so Beautiful Boy will prove if that chemistry translates to a more serious, less Yoda impression-friendly environment. Not to mention, the two also shared the screen in 2007’s Dan in Real Life.
In the future, Carell can be seen starring in Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Battle of the Sexes and Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying, while Ryan will star in Angus MacLachlan’s Abundant Acreage Available.
An exact release date for Beautiful Boy has not been set yet, but it’s expected to hit theaters in 2018.
Originally published March 16, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
