There’s a rumor circulating that George Clooney may be “battling it out” with fellow former-ER star Noah Wyle to take on the lead role in the Steve Jobs biopic by Sony, which is set to be based on Walter Isaacson’s biography about the Apple mastermind.
The source of this rumor appears to be the U.K. tabloid Now Magazine, which states that Wyle and Clooney are going “head to head” to play the late Apple boss. The caption under the photo says, “George Clooney knows the part of Steve Jobs is an amazing part.” But, the site doesn’t specify where they got this information, nor do they offer any direct quotes, so it’s entirely possible this is just a rumor.
Entertaining the idea that Clooney does have his sights set on the part, can anyone see it? There are some actors that are virtual chameleons and have proven to be able to make us forget how dreamy they are by distracting us with an outstanding performance. Clooney has had some strong performances over the course of his career, but would he be capable of delivering one that’s so good, we forget we’re looking at George Clooney and believe we’re looking at Steve Jobs? Noah Wyle, on the other hand, did that fairly well in the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
Pirates was a TV movie that told the story of the feud between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The movie itself was just ok, dragging in parts, but Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall both managed to deliver strong performances as Jobs and Gates respectively. Wyle was almost unrecognizable from the Dr. John Carter ER had come to know and love over the course of the series run. Given the choice between Clooney and Wyle, Clooney seems like the better fit. But, assuming this rumor is true, what are the odds that Wyle would be brought back to play the same part?
It’s probably safe to keep this topic in the rumor department for now until someone confirms or denies it.
