[Update 12/17: Michael Stuhlbarg has closed a deal to play Apple employee Andy Hertzfeld, not a journalist. TheWrap regrets the error regarding which character Stuhlbarg would be playing.]
“Boardwalk Empire” star Michael Stuhlbarg is in talks to join Michael Fassbender in Danny Boyle‘s Steve Jobs movie, an individual familiar with the Universal project has told TheWrap.
Stuhlbarg is expected to play a journalist who interviews Steve Jobs about one of Apple’s product launches.
Representatives for Stuhlbarg did not respond to multiple requests for comment, while producer Scott Rudin didn’t immediately respond either.
Seth Rogen will co-star as Jobs’ close confidante and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, while Emmy winner Jeff Daniels is poised to play former Apple CEO John Sculley.
The film is expected to follow Jobs during three stressful, high-profile product launches including the first Macintosh in 1984 and Apple’s 2001 debut of the iPod.
Rudin is producing with Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady and Christian Colson.
While Stuhlbarg has never worked with Rudin before, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his starring turn in the Coen brothers’ dark comedy “A Serious Man,” and Rudin frequently collaborates with the sibling directors.
Boyle is currently seeking a leading lady to play former Mac marketing chief Joanna Hoffman, as Natalie Portman recently passed on the project, which boasts a well-researched script by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Jobs.
Universal recently picked up the Steve Jobs project from Sony, which inexplicably put it in turnaround. Production is now slated to start in the spring.
Stuhlbarg’s recent film credits include “Hugo,” “Lincoln,” Blue Jasmine” and “Hitchcock,” and he’ll soon be seen in the Bobby Fischer chess drama “Pawn Sacrifice.” Stuhlbarg played Arnold Rothstein on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and will return to period garb as Edward G. Robinson in Jay Roach’s “Trumbo,” as well as Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis movie “Miles Ahead.” He’s represented by ICM Partners and Viking Entertainment.