Writer Aaron Sorkin Talks Steve Jobs Biopic

There are currently two biopics of Apple founder Steve Jobs in the works. One has Ashton Kutcher in the starring role. The other, more reassuring project has no lead actor yet, but will have a heavyweight Oscar-winning screenwriter behind it. Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) was confirmed for “Jobs” earlier this year, and this is the first time he’s spoken up about the film and its subject. Sorkin was in attendance at a recent technology conference hosted by website All Things D and revealed a few insights about his approach.

He said: “To be honest with you, one of the hesitations I had was that this was a little like writing about The Beatles. There are so many people out there that know him and revere him; I saw a minefield of disappointment… I don’t know who is playing Jobs in my movie, but it’ll have to be a very good actor. Someone who is smart.”

Sorkin elaborated on his view of the man: “Jobs is an extremely complicated guy, I know that for sure… He has to, for me, be a hero. I have to find the parts of him that are like me. I have to be able to defend this character. With someone like Steve Jobs, to put it as simply as possible, you want to write the character as if they are writing their letter to God on why they should be allowed into heaven.”

He also touched on his research so far: “I’m at the earliest possible stage with the Steve Jobs movie adaptation. It’ll look more like watching ESPN. Which seems, to the untrained eye, it’ll look a lot like watching college football. It’s a process of procrastination, where you try to figure out what the movie is about. Walter Isaacson wrote a terrific biography — but in making movies about these kinds of things, it’s difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure, so I’m probably not going to write one. Instead, I’ll probably identify the point of friction that appeals to me and then approach that.”

Amusingly, when asked about his own level of consumer immersion in Apple products, 51-year-old Sorkin admits to being “technologically illiterate”. He explained: “I have the three screens — probably more than three screens. I have a desktop, a couple of laptops, an iPad and an iPhone somewhere on my person here. I don’t use them for as much stuff as my 11-year old daughter does, and I frequently ask her for help. I’m old and computer illiterate, and that’s not something I’m proud of. But mostly, I use it to write — to write scripts.”

“Jobs” still has no confirmed cast or release date yet.