Hayes steps into Penn's Stooge shoes

Sean Hayes is gearing up to play The Three Stooges' Larry Fine after Sean Penn backed out of the Farrelly Brothers' latest project.

The former Will & Grace star joins Canadian funnyman Will Sasso, who will play Curly Howard in the upcoming comedy. Peter and Bobby Farrelly are still looking to fill the role of Moe Howard.

The quirky moviemaking duo had originally cast Penn to play Larry, Jim Carrey as Curly and Benicio del Toro as Moe.

The film will not be a biopic; instead, it will be divided into 30-minute long vignettes, according to the Hollywood Reporter.