Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendricks cast in ‘American Beauty’ retread

Walter White and Joan Holloway are Lester and Carolyn Burnham.

Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendricks have been added to the cast of director Jason Reitman’s “American Beauty” live-read at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, with the pair of AMC stars slated to “portray” the dysfunctional central couple from the film (originally played by Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening) in a staged reading of Alan Ball’s Oscar-winning screenplay. Also boarding the “project” is actor Woody Harrelson, who will “play” Frank Fitts, the closeted ex-Marine and neighbor of the Burnhams who was memorably played by Chris Cooper on-screen.

“When I think of those two roles, I think of Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendricks because they know how to balance domestic drama while making it scary and hilarious at the same time,” Reitman told EW, which got the exclusive on the Cranston and Hendricks castings. “There”s an intensity and hilarity to both of them. …When I think of Christina on ‘Mad Men’ and Bryan on ‘Breaking Bad,’ that is the balance of both shows: they deal with extreme drama that can be funny at any moment, and that”s really at the heart of ‘American Beauty.’”

Reitman revealed Harrelson’s involvement earlier today via his Twitter account, where over the past several days he has been slowly announcing the rest of the cast. Below you can find a full list.

Adam Driver (“Girls”) as Ricky Fitts (aka Wes Bentley)
Mae Whitman (“Parenthood”) as Jane Burnham (aka Thora Birch)
Sarah Gadon (“Cosmopolis”) as Angela Hayes (aka Mena Suvari)
Nick Kroll (FX’s “The League”) as Buddy Kane (aka Peter Gallagher)
George Stroumboulopoulos (a Canadian TV/radio host) as Jim Olmeyer (aka Scott Bakula)

Reitman has previously hosted live-reads of scripts including “The Princess Bride,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “The Breakfast Club” and “The Big Lebowski,” with various celebrities participating.

The “American Beauty” live-read takes place on Thursday night at the Toronto Film Festival.

Are you a fan of “American Beauty”? Do you like the cast Reitman has assembled?

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