CANNES: Jake Gyllenhaal is going to play Bernstein in a forthcoming biopic. Gyllenhaal will produce and star in “The American,” which will begin filming this coming fall from a screenplay by Michael Mitnick, adapted from Humphrey Burton’s biography “Leonard Bernstein.” The film will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
While talking to the media representative Jake said “Like many people, Leonard Bernstein found his way into my life and heart through West Side Story when I was a kid. But as I got older and started to learn about the scope of his work, I began to understand the extent of his unparalleled contribution and the debt of gratitude modern American culture owes him.
He added, “As a man, Bernstein was a fascinating figure—full of genius and contradiction—and it will be an incredible honor to tell his story with a talent and friend like Cary.”
Gyllenhaal recently appeared on Broadway in a limited revival of Sunday in the Park With George. He made his 2015 Broadway debut in Constellations.
The trailer for the biopic is yet to be released. It will surely be an interesting movie to watch.
