Louis C.K., whose career path is very similar to that of fellow filmmaker/comedian Woody Allen, will appear in the legendary filmmaker's next movie. Variety reports that C.K. has been cast in the currently untitled film.
Also announced in the cast for the film are Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Michael Emerson, Sally Hawkins and Peter Sarsgaard.
Not only are Allen and C.K. both talented stand-up comedians, but they also both transitioned into film and TV careers marked by prolific outputs and near-total control of their art. Allen has directed, written and often starred in a movie nearly every single year since the mid-1960s, and C.K. does the same roles on his critically-acclaimed FX show "Louie" in addition to writing and performing a new hour of stand-up each year.
In fact, C.K. recently hired editor Susan E. Morse, who edited every Woody Allen movie from 1979's "Manhattan" to 1998's "Celebrity." She told Vulture that she finds the way the two men work to be "very similar."
She also suspected that if C.K. were cast as the Woody Allen "surrogate" role in one of his films, "there’s no way in hell Louis would be trying to 'do Woody.'" No other details about the film are available, including title or plot, so it's unclear whether C.K. will be the star of the film or appear in a supporting role.
The trailer for season 3 of "Louie" even pays homage to "Manhattan" fairly directly, nodding to the clear influence that Allen has had on C.K.'s filmmaking, if not his career.
The untitled film will shoot in New York and San Francisco this summer, only the second time he's shot a film in the United States since 2004. It's expected to be released in 2013. Allen's film "To Rome With Love" will open in the U.S. on June 22.