McPhee joins Columbia's sorority

By Borys Kit and Tatiana Siegel

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee will make her studio acting debut as a pregnant hippie in an untitled comedy starring Anna Faris.

McPhee, Emma Stone, Rumer Willis, Kat Dennings and comedian Dana Goodman have signed on to co-star in the feature, which is being directed by Fred Wolf for Columbia Pictures and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods.

The script, by "Legally Blonde" writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, centers on a Playboy bunny (Faris) who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and becomes the house mother to the lamest sorority on campus.

The casting fills in the major roles of the sorority sisters and solidifies the project as the first female-driven comedy to come out of the production company.

Stone will play the president of the sorority; Willis will play an insecure young woman who wears a back brace even though she could have had it removed years ago; Dennings will portray a women's studies feminist; and Goodman will play the sister who keeps switching majors and should have graduated years ago.

Also cast is Sarah Wright ("Made of Honor"), who will play a conniving young woman from a popular sorority.

The comedy marks the second role McPhee has booked in as many months; in June, she nabbed a role in "The Last Caller," a dark romantic-comedy independent film. Her casting in the Faris project, along with "Idol" finalist Jennifer Hudson's acting turn in "Dreamgirls," shows that "Idol" is becoming a fertile ground for finding acting talent as well as vocal talent.

Stone is shooting "The Rocker" opposite Rainn Wilson and will be seen in Columbia's "Superbad" as Jonah Hill's love interest.

Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, continues to make her push into the family business. She recently was cast in "The Sophomore" for the Yari Film Group.

Dennings is best known for her performance as Catherine Keener's daughter in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," while Goodman appeared in "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter