John C. Reilly

Actor continues comedy transition in 'Dewey'

By DANIEL FRANKEL

Reilly

JUDD AND HIS MERRY MEN

• Judd Apatow
• Seth Rogen
• Michael Cera
• Jonah Hill

FEATURE THESPS

• Tim Allen
• Rowan Atkinson
• Kevin James
• Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
• Adam Sandler
• John Travolta
• John C. Reilly

HELMERS & SCRIBES

• Jason Reitman & Diablo Cody
• The Hot Fuzz Guys
• Walt Becker
• Tyler Perry

TOON TALENT

• Brad Bird
• The Simpsons troika
• Jerry Seinfeld

LIVE LAUGHS LEADERS

• Jim Gaffigan
• Demetri Martin
• Katt Williams
• Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan

WEB HEADS

• The Lonely Island Guys
• Perez Hilton
• Funnyordie.com

TUBE TITANS

• Bill Engvall
• Jenna Fischer
• Tina Fey
• Bryan Fuller
• Flight of the Conchords
• Tracy Morgan
• Steven Koonin
• Chuck Lorre
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Ricky Gervais
• Jaime Pressly
• Conan O'Brien
• Jon Stewart
• Amy Poehler
• Sarah Silverman

Year to date, this career-character-thesp-turned-top-comic-actor hasn't had a huge presence in the marketplace. Call Reilly's appearance on this list a function of great odds. Queued up for a Dec. 21 release is biopic sendup "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," which he headlines. Not only does this light, "Airplane!"-style Sony ensembler arrive with an "Apatow movie" christening, it's counterprogrammed against the awards-movie glut in the same frame that catapulted "Night at the Museum" to more than $573 million in worldwide B.O. last year.

Point of view

"I don't see it as an abrupt change at all," says Reilly of his transition away from dramatic pics like "Casualties of War" and "The Hours" to more whimsical projects like "Talladega Nights." "I feel like I was often cast as the somewhat funny person in a serious movie. In terms of what I'm doing as an actor, I approach it with the same honesty and flesh out the character as much as I can. The only difference is the circumstances are ridiculous, so it's a comedy."