Casting details continue to trickle in for Netflix’s National Lampoon biopic A Futile And Stupid Gesture, with director David Wain tapping a bevy of recognizable faces from the comedy world to play the irreverent iconoclasts who helped bring the magazine—and its subsequent radio shows, sketch revues, and films—to life. We’ve already seen Will Forte sign on to play Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney, while Joel McHale, John Gemberling, Jon Daly, and Undateable’s Rick Glassman will be playing Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis, respectively. Now, Deadline is reporting that Robot Chicken creator and Family Guy star Seth Green has also joined the project, playing This Is Spinal Tap star and Best In Show director Christopher Guest.
Guest—like Murray, Belushi, and Ramis—was part of 1973’s The National Lampoon Radio Hour, where he was responsible for most of the program’s numerous parody songs. Lorne Michaels would later poach aggressively from the show’s cast and writers—including semi-legendary comedy writing figures like Michael O’Donoghue and Anne Beatts—when he assembled his original Saturday Night Live crew. Although Guest didn’t join SNL at the time, he would in later years, serving for a single season in 1984-1985.
The casting represents an increasingly rare chance for Green to pop up in front of the camera. In recent years, he’s been far more active behind the scenes, lending voice talent and production work to shows like Robot Chicken and Crackle’s SuperMansion. But presumably, when someone invites you to play Nigel Tufnel (not to mention Count Rugen and the 5th Baron Haden-Guest), you don’t say no.
