Paul Mescal Replaces Blake Jenner in Merrily We Roll Along Movie

Emmy nominee Paul Mescal has joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, according to Variety. He is taking over the role of composer Franklin Shepard, replacing original star Blake Jenner. As previously announced, Broadway's Ben Platt plays lyricist Charley Kringas and Beanie Feldstein plays writer Mary Flynn. Richard Linklater is helming the movie musical, which is being filmed over the span of 20 years. 

Mescal is known for starring in the hit series Normal People, for which he won a British Academy Television Award and Emmy nomination. He will soon star as Stanley in a new production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire at London's Almeida Theatre.

Based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Merrily We Roll Along features a book by George Furth and score by Stephen Sondheim. The story revolves around a former Broadway composer named Franklin Shepard who has abandoned his friends and his music career to become a Hollywood film producer. The musical starts at the height of Shepard's Hollywood success and goes backward, showing snapshots of his life over the course of 20 years.

Merrily We Roll Along is currently running off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop and will transfer to Broadway this year starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe.

The original Broadway production of Merrily, directed by Harold Prince and starring Jim Walton, Lonny Price and Ann Morrison, opened in 1981 and closed after just 16 performances.