Thunderbolts* and Disclosure Day star Wyatt Russell has joined the cast of John Carroll Lynch’s upcoming comedy Happy.
He will appear as Roger alongside Sex Education alum Asa Butterfield and 1917‘s Mark Strong, with Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Brittany O’Grady (The White Lotus) and Patti Harrison (Together Together) also starring.
The feature follows Myles (Butterfield) into a “spectacularly dysfunctional introduction to his girlfriend’s family,” a plot synopsis reads. “A shotgun fired at a birthday cake, a voyeuristic mother, a seductive sister, a disarmingly decent ex-boyfriend, way too much booze and nowhere near enough boundaries. What starts as an awkward introduction quickly becomes a test of just how far Myles is willing to go for the woman he loves.”
Written by Ira Steven Behr (Outlander), Happy marks Lynch’s second feature as director, following his 2017 debut Lucky with Harry Dean Stanton and David Lynch.
“Wyatt is such a perfect fit for Roger — his insight on the role is so exciting,” said Lynch on Thursday. “He has such passion for the project and the part. We couldn’t be happier to have him.”
The film is set to begin principal photography in March, 2027 in the U.S.
Russell comes to Happy amid a run of high-profile projects. He reprised his MCU role as John Walker/U.S. Agent in the recent blockbuster Thunderbolts* and is set to return in the hotly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday. He became a central figure in Apple and Legendary’s MonsterVerse through Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, with other credits including Black Mirror and Broke. Most recently, he appeared opposite Emily Blunt in Steven Spielberg’s alien thriller Disclosure Day. Russell is also currently filming Birdwatcher, a Monarch spinoff centered on his character, Lee Shaw.
Happy is produced by Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady of BCDF Pictures (To Leslie, The Hating Game), alongside Richard Kahan and Behr. Embankment is handling global sales.
“Wyatt joining Happy is hugely exciting for us. He has such a distinctive presence — funny, charismatic and completely authentic — and we couldn’t be more excited to see him alongside this remarkable cast in John’s hands,” said producer Claude Dal Farra.
Russell is repped by UTA. Butterfield is repped by CAA and Independent Talent Group. Strong is repped by WME and Markham, Froggatt and Irwin. Sedgwick is repped by CAA and Range Media Partners. O’Grady is repped by CAA and Suskin/Karshan. Harrison is repped by UTA and 3 Arts. Lynch is repped by Suskin/Karshan. Behr is repped by Untitled.