Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, and Blythe Danner have signed on to star in Happiness for Beginners, a Netflix romantic comedy from writer-director Vicky Wight. The film is based on Katherine Center’s novel of the same name and centers on Kemper star Helen, who signs up for a wilderness survival course a year after getting divorced. She discovers through this experience that is getting she has found herself.
Wight is producing the film with Geoff Linville and Berry Meyerowitz. Jeff Sackman and Larry Greenburg are its executive producers. Information on the roles to be played by Grimes, Santos, and Danner has not yet been disclosed.
The story follows a woman who, having trouble bouncing back from her divorce, takes a wilderness survival course. The course, of course, is a calamity, until the annoying guy she meets turns out to be just the man for her, and she learns there just might be something to the sugary sweet idiom ‘Only when you lose yourself do you then find yourself.’ Not quite Yoda, but close.
Kemper is a two-time Emmy nominee perhaps best known for her starring turn in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and for her portrayal of Erin Hannon in the NBC comedy The Office. Additional TV credits include Disney’s Sofia the First and Universal Television’s The Mindy Project.
Grimes is perhaps best known for his turn as Kayce Dutton in Taylor Sheridan and John Linson’s Paramount Network drama series, Yellowstone. He has previously recurred on HBO’s True Blood and ABC’s Brothers & Sisters. The actor has also appeared on the film side in Fifty Shades of Grey and sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.
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Santos is a two-time Critics’ Choice Award nominee best known for his series regular role as Mateo in NBC comedy, Superstore. The actor will next appear in Andy Palmer’s feature The Re-Education of Molly Singer and in HBO Max animated comedy series, The Prince. He’s previously appeared in films including Crazy Rich Asians and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and is repped by Greene & Associates, Spektor Entertainment, and Morris Yorn.
Danner is a two-time Emmy winner who has recently appeared on the TV side in Starz’s American Gods and the Will & Grace reboot at NBC. The actress has previously appeared in series including Netflix’s Gypsy, ABC’s Madoff, NBC’s Up All Night, and Showtime’s Huff, among others.