Natalie Portman is latest actor to shun Steve Jobs movie

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin previously claimed that Steve Jobs’ life was rich enough that it could make 10 movies. Based on the evidence we’ve been presented with, however, it’s having a tough enough time making one.

This week’s setback is the news that Natalie Portman, who was reportedly in talks to play a role in the movie, has decided to part ways with the project for unknown reasons.

This is the latest in a long line of challenges for the movie adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s bestselling movie. Multiple A-list actors and directors passed on the project early on, before Sorkin’s handpicked Steve Jobs thesp Christian Bale was cast as Apple’s co-founder, only to later throw in the towel.

Most recently, the movie was put up for sale by its original studio Sony, which wound up selling to Universal Studios for development costs only.

There is one interesting rumor that accompanies Portman’s departure, however, and that is that she was reportedly set to play Joanna Hoffman, one of the original Macintosh developer team, who for a while was the only marketing person working on the 1984 computer.

Given Portman’s status in Hollywood, if this rumor turns out to be true it suggests that the role of Hoffman will be a significant one. Sorkin has previously revealed that Jobs’ estranged daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, will be the “heroine” of the movie.

While Natalie Portman’s turndown is certainly notable, trade magazine Variety claims the movie is still on track, and other actresses are already meeting for the part.

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.