Heather Matarazzo (“The Princess Diaries”, “Hostel 2″) is starring in, and producing, the dark comedy “Mangus!”, which has commenced filming in Texas.

Written and directed by Ash Christian, the film tells of Mangus Spedgwick, a young man who “has had one dream his whole life… He wants to be Jesus – in his high school’s annual production of “Jesus Christ Spectacular” that is. When unforeseen circumstances strike, Mangus loses the role, which was a Spedgewick family tradition. Will he get to be their town’s first crippled Jesus? Not without a hard fight, a road trip and breaking the law a few times along the way.”

Familiar faces amongst the support cast include Jennifer Coolidge (“American Pie”), Leslie Jordan (“Will & Grace”), and Deborah Theaker (“A Mighty Wind”). Newcomer Ryan Nelson Boggus plays Mangus.

“It’s rare that I get a script that I fall in love with and want to be a part of,” says Heather Matarazzo. “’Mangus’ I fell in love with to the point that I’d take a massive pay cut, devote 4 years of my life and help get this film out into the world.”