Bridesmaids was many people’s introduction to Chris O’Dowd (including yours truly) and, if I may gush a little, what an adorable and funny introduction it was. Apparently, Hollywood has taken notice of the Irish charmer, and buried him in a heap of offers. (Watch out, Gerard Butler. This guy is about to quietly lift your career if he hasn’t already.)
But Judd Apatow beat them to it. According to Variety, O’Dowd has joined the cast of his pseudo-sequel to Knocked Up. Formerly titled This Is Forty, it follows the snarky, rocky marriage of Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann’s characters.
O’Dowd isn’t the only Apatow/Feig alumni to be returning to the fold. Charlyne Yi and Lena Dunham (who hasn’t been in an Apatow movie, but is working with him on the HBO series Girls) are also signing on, alongside Wyatt Russell, who undoubtedly is making the first of many Apatow appearances. (Watch your back, O’Dowd, he’ll take your spot! It’s dog eat dog on an Apatow film. And he’s the son of Kurt.)
They join Rudd, Mann, Megan Fox and Albert Brooks, who will be playing Rudd’s father. Variety doesn’t specify who O’Dowd, Dunham, Yi (I imagine she’s reprising the stoner girl from Knocked Up) or Russell will play…but hey, let’s do a radical thing and wait for the trailer or the movie to learn that. Surprises! I miss them!