Glenn Howerton is forever known as the psychopath, Dennis Reynolds, on FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, the actor is set to break out of the shadow of the five-star man. It was previously announced Howerton would be joining Jay Baruchel in BlackBerry, which is the story of the Canadian corporation that created the revolutionary precursor to smartphones. Matt Johnson of Operation Avalanche will be stepping in the director’s chair for this project. Entertainment Weekly has given us the first look at Howerton in all of his bald glory as the CEO, Jim Balsillie.
Howerton describes his character as “a very savvy businessman who jumped into this venture when it was really just a bunch of tech guys who had no idea what they had on their hands. Jim had the relationships; he had the contacts, he had the personality and the drive to really push it forward.” The comedic actor who normally sports a thick mane talks about the decision that went into his transformation, “We made a decision very early on to shave my head instead of trying to wear a prosthetic or a bald cap because I think it wouldn’t have looked as good. I really get distracted in movies by bad wigs and bad bald caps, so I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.”
“The movie is about the rise and fall of the company Research in Motion that created the BlackBerry,” Howerton says about the film. He, then, continues to break down what the story entails. “[It’s about] the interesting and fascinating ways in which they rose to the top of the market, and singled out the BlackBerry as the most important phone in the world to have, and made it such a desirable device. And, of course, the hubris of thinking you’ve figured it all out, and then something comes in like the iPhone and sweeps it all away from you before you realize it.”
Baruchel portrays Mike Lazaridis, who is the brains behind the operation. Director Matt Johnson pulls double duty acting as a third partner of this trio named Douglas Fregin, who is Mike’s best friend and fellow tech guy. The rest of the cast includes Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Martin Donovan, and Michael Ironside.
BlackBerry is due to hit theaters on June 2.