Michael Fassbender to lead The Big Lebowski live read

Michael Fassbender is set to take the iconic role of The Dude in a live reading of 1998 cult classic movie The Big Lebowski.

The 12 Years a Slave star will assume the part, originally played by Jeff Bridges, at an installment of director Jason Reitman's Live Read Series in Montreal later this month (Jul15).

Reitman previously directed a live performance of the script in 2012, with Seth Rogen taking the role of a hapless slacker who gets involved in a criminal scheme due to a case of mistaken identity.

The director tells Entertainment Weekly, "I heard... (that)... Fassbender (is) an enormous fan of The Big Lebowski, (and) he apparently quotes it daily. Unlike other Live-Reads where I have a decent sense of how, for instance, Seth Rogen going to play The Dude, I have no idea how Fassbender will do it. But he's one of the our greatest performers, he's on the current Mount Rushmore of actors, so I can't wait to see what he comes up with."

Joining Fassbender at the read is Patton Oswalt, who frequents Reitman's live script reads.