‘The Girl On The Train’ Adds Lisa Kudrow; Replaces Jared Leto with Luke Evans

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa Kudrow (Neighbors) and Luke Evans (The Hobbit series) are the latest additions to The Girl on the Train.

The trio of female leads at the center of Tate Taylor’s (The Help) film have already been cast – Emily Blunt (Sicario), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation), and Haley Bennett (The Equalizer). The men in the cast include Justin Theroux (Wanderlust) and Édgar Ramírez (Deliver Us from Evil). Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) had been in talks to join the DreamWorks feature, however, due to scheduling conflicts, he has since been replaced by Luke Evans (The Hobbit franchise). Allison Janney (Spy) rounds out the cast in an as-yet unspecified role.

The screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson (Men, Women, and Children) is an adaptation of the New York Times best-selling novel of the same name by Paula Hawkins. The story follows Rachel (Blunt), an alcoholic divorcee on her daily train commute. Her train passes by the home of Scott (Evans) and Megan (Bennett), a beautiful couple whom Rachel imagines as having the perfect life. Rachel’s ex-husband Tom (Theroux) and his new wife (Ferguson) also live closeby. Kudrow will play a former co-worker of Tom’s. After witnessing suspicious goings-on at the couple’s home, Rachel gets pulled into a murder mystery as things spiral out of control in her own life.

Kudrow was nominated for an Emmy last year for her lead actress role in The Comeback. She also starred in the well-received comedy series Web Therapy as a self-absorbed therapist. She will reprise her Neighbors role in Nicholas Stoller’s comedy sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising which comes out May 20, followed by Jeffrey Blitz’s Table 19, another comedy with Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect franchise), which will also see a 2016 release.

Since appearing in The Fast & The Furious franchise as bad boy Owen Shaw as well as in the Hobbit series as Bard, Evans has slowly been rising on the public radar. He has since booked roles as the lothario Gaston in the live-action Beauty and the Beast and in Message from the King opposite Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther, 2018).

Marc Platt is producing the film, which will be executive produced by Jared LeBoff and Celia Costas. The Girl on the Train is currently in pre-production and will bow on October 7, 2016.