Harold finds three

Twisted teen comedy Harold already has a couple of cast members aboard, with Spencer Breslin playing the troubled, balding central character and Cuba Gooding Jr snagging the role of the janitor who befriends him.

Now Hairspray’s Nikki Blonsky, high school movie expert Ally Sheedy and comedian Colin Quinn are joining them. Weirdly, the film is being shot at Blonsky’s hometown in Great Neck, Long Island. “The set is my middle school," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's kinda creepy. I didn't have the best time there, so going back is definitely cooler."

And she was attracted to the role because it gave her a chance to move away from Tracey Turnblad. "I read a bunch of scripts after Hairspray, but this was really funny and had so much life in it. I'm playing an outcast again, but not necessarily because of the whole 'plus-size' thing. “It's because my character marches to the beat of her own drummer."

Sheedy – still best known for The Breakfast Club is playing Harold’s mother, while Quinn will play an alcohol-soaked barfly who frequents a strip club that Harold regularly visits.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.