Should Paul Rudd ever need a place to stay in New York, one imagines there would be numerous volunteers to offer him lodging. In the meantime, Mr. Rudd will be crashing the role originally played by Jack Lemmon in a reading of the script for the 1960 Billy Wilder comedy “The Apartment,” alongside Emma Stone, who’ll be substituting for that film’s original co-star, Shirley MacLaine.
The filmmaker Jason Reitman, who is organizing this Live Read event to be held on Friday at the TimesCenter in Manhattan, said on Wednesday that Mr. Rudd, a star of comedies like “Role Models,” “Knocked Up” and “I Love You, Man,” will play C. C. Baxter, the “Apartment” protagonist who lends his home to co-workers for their after-hours trysts. Ms. Stone, whose films include “The Help,” will play Fran Kubelik, an elevator operator with whom Baxter falls in love, helping him find a new outlook on life.
Mr. Reitman previously announced on his Twitter feed that James Woods will play the role of Baxter’s boss, Sheldrake (portrayed in the original film by Fred MacMurray); Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”) will succeed Ray Walston as Dobisch; and Cara Buono (“Mad Men”) will take over from Edie Adams as Sheldrake’s secretary, Miss Olsen. David Wain, who directed Mr. Rudd in his films “Role Models,” “Wanderlust,” “The Ten” and “Wet Hot American Summer,” will play Baxter’s neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss, portrayed in the film by Jack Kruschen. The cast also includes Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live”) and Lena Dunham (“Girls”).
The Academy Award-winning screenplay for “The Apartment” was written by Mr. Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond; the film also won Oscars for best film and best director (Mr. Wilder) and earned nominations for the performances of Mr. Lemmon, Ms. MacLaine and Mr. Kruschen.
A previous Live Read of “The Apartment,” which Mr. Reitman organized at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, featured Steve Carell (Mr. Rudd’s co-star in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) as C. C. Baxter and Natalie Portman as Fran Kubelik.
More information for Friday’s event can be found online at nytliveread.com.
