Television’s classic comedy act “The Three Stooges” will soon be seen on the big screen starring everybody’s beloved Glee Cheerios coach Jane Lynch. In the trio-tular character of Moe, Larry and Curly are Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso who were left on a nun’s doorstep and grew up secluded in the orphanage. Years later, the trio tries to help the orphanage when it is forced to lock doors due to financial difficulties.
Jane Lynch portrays the orphanage’s Mother Superior who sees the troika as newborn angels from heaven and later employed the three as the foster home’s maintenance men. As they try and save the day, the three engage in plenty of their trademark antics out of their comfort zone to raise funds for the orphanage.
Indeed, while the Stooges’ antics are as outlandish and cartoonish as ever, the characters are, as Jane Lynch notes, “just the sweetest guys. They’re buffoons and they make huge mistakes, but it always comes from the goodness of their hearts, even as they’re poking each other in the eye.” To Lynch’s point, The Stooges are total innocents. The nuns raise them in a very sheltered manner. “So, they don’t really have a concept of what’s going on in the outside world,” says Chris Diamantopoulos. “They are fish-out-of-water who have never seen the real world or been exposed to anything modern. The only thing they’ve known is the orphanage.”
Apart from Lynch, the filmmakers surrounded the Stooges with an impressive ensemble, including Sofía Vergara,Jennifer Hudson, Craig Bierko – and Larry David…as a nun…named Sister Mary- Mengele.
“Sister Mary-Mengele. That name is what really attracted me to the role,” offers David. “For years I said to myself, ‘if only I could play a character whose last name was Mengele. Or Goebbels.Or Goering. I’m a really authentic actor,” David continues about his approach to playing outside his gender for the first time in his career. “I really researched it and I spoke with some nuns, and they told me that I couldn’t really reveal what’s on underneath the habit. They took me into their confidence.”
The starring cast also includes Oscar®-and-Grammy® winning actress-singer Jennifer Hudson as the orphanage’s resident singing nun, Sister Rosemary. “What I remember most about The Three Stooges growing up was hearing my mom speak of this classic show,” Hudson says. “That was her favorite thing back in the day. She used to always tell me about it. That was one of the things that drew me to the part.”
Emmy-nominated actress Sofía Vergara (“Modern Family”) plays the film’s femme fatale, Lydia, who tries to lure the Stooges into offing her innocent husband.Vergara, who relished playing the sultry villain, explains that the Stooges’ appeal is universal, citing her own encounters with the phenomenon. “I think everybody at some point in their life watched The Three Stooges,” says Vergara.
“The Three Stooges” in cinemas on October 24 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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