Steve Carell's branching out into dramatic territory has been met with mixed results so far. The Way Way Back was perhaps one of last year's more underrated films, and his dark performance in it a definite change-of-pace, but audiences didn't really flock to it. A delay forced the Olympic drama Foxcatcher to later this year where some expect it to be a possible awards contender. While he may be a more diverse actor now, it was Anchorman 2 and Despicable Me 2 that made the big bucks last year. Fortunately, Carell still wants to challenge himself, and he's about to take on what sounds like his most challenging role yet.
Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to David Menasche's life-affirming memoir, The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons, for Carell to star in and produce. Menasche was a Miami English professor who in 2006 was diagnosed with a lemon-sized brain tumor. After a number of surgeries and years of chemotherapy, he was able to return to teaching, only to suffer a seizure in 2012 that damaged his vision and physically weakened him. Forced to retire, he set out on a cross-country journey he called a Vision Quest, reconnecting with thousands of the students he taught over his 15-year career. In the process he comes to grips with his illness and learns to live life to the fullest. Menasche is still alive and trying to put together a documentary on his journey.
We know Carell can do funny and play a character with a bit more edge, but we've never really seen him be hopeful and inspiring. This will be an interesting test to see how far he's progressed.
