Paul Rudd Up For Baseball Player Turned Spy Drama, The Catcher Was a Spy

Paul Rudd made a name for himself in comedy and more recently has been proving his action skills in the Marvel universe as Ant Man. Now he’s keen to show he’s a dab hand at drama, as Deadline reports he’s set to star in the true-life drama, The Catcher Was a Spy.

As Deadline points out, it’s a story it’s surprising hasn’t been turned into a movie before (although the likes of Warner, Miramax and HBO have tried), as Rudd will play ‘Moe Berg, an Ivy League grad and attorney who spoke nine languages, but that wasn’t the only reason he stood out among his baseball teammates when he spent 15 years as a journeyman player for such teams as the New York Robins and Chicago White Sox.

‘Their biggest worry might have been hitting a curveball; Berg doubled as a top secret spy for the OSS (a forerunner for the CIA), who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. Perhaps Berg was helped in his efforts to stay under the radar by the fact his skills were not going to make anyone forget about Babe Ruth. When Berg played for the Senators, teammate Dave Harris once famously said, “Moe Berg can speak twelve languages, but can’t hit any of them!”’

Ben Lewin (The Sessions) will direct from a script by Saving Private Ryan’s Robert Rodat, based on Nicholas Dawidoff’s book. It’s not known when it will shoot.