Dan Futterman has stepped out of the world of comedy. The actor, whom many know for his recurring role on the now-defunct NBC series “Will & Grace,” stars in the new film “A Mighty Heart,” playing slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Futterman’s agent recommended that he read the script and the book by Pearl’s widow, Mariane. The actor was “moved” by both, and thought they were “terrific.” Family is deeply important to Futterman. He has two young daughters, Sylvie and Eve. “I think I’m so aware of the fact that, being a father, Danny [Pearl] never got to meet his son…. It certainly reinforces the gratitude that I have two… healthy children and I’m able to go home and open the door and pick ’em up and watch them grow up,” he said.

The actor is joined onscreen by family-oriented mega-star Angelina Jolie, who plays Mariane Pearl.

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Futterman, who received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay of the film “Capote,” told The Shmooze that when he sat down with “A Mighty Heart” director Michael Winterbottom, he got the feeling that “he doesn’t meet with a ton of people. He’s done some kind of winnowing of whatever list he has for each part.”

A 40-year-old Los Angeles resident, Futterman co-wrote a script with his wife, Anya Epstein, for a romantic comedy called “Finn at the Blue Line,” which will star Sarah Jessica Parker. He is also adapting Jonathan Tropper’s novel “Everything Changes.”

Futterman said he feels better suited to writing than to acting, but “if something comes up that is like [‘A Mighty Heart’]… that I could care about as deeply… as an actor, I’d certainly be a part of it.”

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