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Woody Harrelson Is Ready to Do It Live in Risky Movie

Veteran television and movie star Woody Harrelson has enjoyed a career defined by unconventional choices, but this may be one of the most ambitious yet.
Image: Woody Harrelson
Actor Woody Harrelson speaks onstage during the 'True Detective' panel discussion at the 2014 Winter Television Critics Association tour.Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

Live from London, it's Woody Harrelson.

The veteran television and movie star has enjoyed a career defined by unconventional choices — whether it be his passionate advocacy for hemp or his eclectic film roles, but Harrelson's next project called — "Lost In London LIVE" — may be his most ambitious act to date.

It's a full-length feature film, set in the UK over the course of a single night — which will be shown live early on Friday and then broadcast into just over 550 theaters here in the U.S.

"Lost In London LIVE," will be the first project of its kind — but it is just one of several high-profile projects from the former "Cheers" star. He's also signed on to appear in an upcoming installment of the "Star Wars" franchise — the highly anticipated (and still untitled) spin-off film about the early exploits of Han Solo, the character famously played by Harrison Ford for nearly 40 years, now to be played by rising star Alden Ehrenreich.

Related: Woody Harrelson Applies to Open Marijuana Dispensary in Hawaii

But "Lost In London LIVE" should be a more personal project for the 55-year-old actor since he wrote it and is directing himself in it. Although Harrelson has not confirmed or denied it, the film could be loosely based on raucous night he spent in London back in 2002 that led to him spending the night in jail.

"Someone was asking me earlier, 'Do you think that people will start doing this now? Filming a movie and live-streaming it at the same time?' And I said, 'Well, not if they speak to me first.' This is some harrowing stuff," he told the Associated Press.

There has recently been something of a renaissance for live television of events on the small screen. After the networks experimented with a live episode of the medical drama "ER" in 1997 and a staging of the Cold War classic "Fail Safe" in 2000, NBC has also more recently broadcast a series of popular, highly rated musical productions like "Hairspray," "The Wiz" and "The Sound of Music."

But a full-length feature film, which will not be the beneficiary of commercial interruptions, is arguably a far more ambitious feat. And Harrelson admits that he and his co-stars (which include actor Owen Wilson and country music legend Willie Nelson) may not be fully up to the task.

"Will it mess up the performance? That's the question. Will the fear be too high to eke out a performance? I don't know," he told the AP. "All you want is to make good movies, because eventually I'll be gone and those will still be here. You know what I mean?"