Pauly Shore is set to play television fitness pioneer Richard Simmons in a new biopic.
The as-yet-untitled film is being developed by Warner Bros subsidiary The Wolper Organization.
Shore, the 55-year-old star of 1992’s Encino Man and 1996’s Bio-Dome, already has experience playing Simmons.
He recently played the fitness guru in The Court Jester, an unrelated short film from writer-director Jake Lewis. That film is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this week, and also stars Tamra Brown as Ellen DeGeneres and Jesse Heiman as David, a television producer who lost 160 pounds thanks to Simmons.
In a statement seen by Variety, Shore said: “I’m really excited about sharing Richard Simmons’s life with the world. We all need this biopic now more than ever.
“Simmons represented mental health, getting people in shape and being his authentic silly self! Whenever he was on TV you could never take your eyes off of him and he brought such a joy to his appearances that represented nothing but a good time.”……..