Tom Cavanagh Joins Cast of How to Eat Fried Worms
Star of "Ed" and upcoming series "Love Monkey" joins Luke Benward and Hallie Kate Eisenberg in New Line Cinema and Walden Media projectAugust 19, 2005
AUSTIN - Tom Cavanagh, best known for his starring role in the critically acclaimed NBC series "Ed," has joined the cast of New Line Cinema and Walden Media's How To Eat Fried Worms, the feature film adaptation of Thomas Rockwell's hugely popular young adult book. He will play the father of the film's eleven-year-old protagonist, who helps his son as they adjust to life in a new city. Film is currently shooting in multiple locations in and around Austin, Texas and is scheduled to conclude in mid-September. New Line Cinema and Walden Media plan a 2006 release for the film. How to Eat Fried Worms tells the story of Billy, an eleven-year-old who inadvertently challenges the town bully on his first day at a new school. To save face and earn the respect of his new classmates, Billy agrees to a bet that will determine his fate at the school-whether or not he can eat ten worms in one day. As the pressure mounts, he must summon heroic strength to keep his five-year-old brother from blabbing, his weak stomach from betraying him, and his big mouth from getting him into more trouble than he's already in.
Cavanagh will next star in the CBS mid-season series "Love Monkey", where he plays a music A&R man whose love life doesn't always measure up to his career successes. His recently completed films include the romantic comedy Gray Matters with Heather Graham and Bridget Moynahan and Two Weeks with Sally Field and Ben Chaplin. Cavanagh was nominated for a Leading Actor Daytime Emmy Award for his role in Showtime's Peabody and Emmy Award winning film Bang, Bang You're Dead. He also starred in the Broadway hit musical Urinetown.
Directed by Bob Dolman (The Banger Sisters), How to Eat Fried Worms stars Luke Benward (Because of Winn-Dixie), Ty Panitz (Yours Mine & Ours), and Hallie Kate Eisenberg (Bicentennial Man). The film is being produced by Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Notebook, The Alamo, The Rookie, Rain Man) and Philip Steuer (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Alamo, The Rookie). The project is a co-venture between New Line Cinema (the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, Elf, Monster-In-Law) and Walden Media (Holes, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Because of Winn-Dixie).
The film is based on the Thomas Rockwell book, How To Eat Fried Worms, which has been a perennial seller since its publication in 1973, amassing nearly 3 million copies sold worldwide. Rockwell has penned numerous books for young readers and has received The Mark Twain Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Sequoyah Award for How To Eat Fried Worms.
Cavanagh is represented by Joan Sittenfield Management and Endeavor. New Line's Cale Boyter and Michael Disco are overseeing the project on the studio's behalf. Alex Schwartz and David Kaufmann are overseeing the project on behalf of Walden Media, and Tom Williams is handling the project on behalf of Gran Via Productions. Tommy Finkelstein negotiated the deal on behalf of Walden Media.
