After the New York Film Festival screening of “Inherent Vice,” there were a number of cranky complaints that the movie didn”t make any sense. It”s true, the intricacies of Paul Thomas Anderon”s hazy, stoned crime caper isn”t easy to digest, especially if they”re soaked up only once. But even the most livid NYFF attendee had to agree that relative newcomer Katherine Waterston, wooing and mellowing out Joaquin Phoenix”s wily Larry “Doc” Sportello, was a discovery. The people wanted more (and, for a certain contingent, more of her in something they could understand). Well, get ready, NYFFers, Waterston”s just made the leap to the mainstream: She”ll star opposite Michael Fassbender in the developing Steve Jobs biopic.
After courting Natalie Portman for the role, Variety reports that producers landed on Waterston for the role of Steve Jobs” wife. She joins Fassbender and Seth Rogen, set to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Danny Boyle will direct from a much-discussed Aaron Sorkin screenplay (a project at the center of the Sony hack maelstrom).
Last we heard of the actual content of Sorkin”s script, the untitled biopic centers on three moments in Jobs” life. He told The Daily Beast in 2012, “This entire movie is going to be three scenes and three scenes only. That all take place in real time. There will be no time cuts and each will take place before a product launch. Backstage before a product launch. The first one being the Mac, the second one being NeXT, after he had left Apple. And the third one being the iPod.”
Before “Inherent Vice,” Waterston previously appeared in several “Boardwalk Empire” episodes, supporting roles in “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” “Night Moves,” and “Being Flynn.” Anderson”s neo-noir was a huge boost and the Jobs biopic, successful or not, should send her skyrocketing. As long as the NYFF audiences can understand it.