Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak: When comedians go biopic

Like a new iProduct, Sony’s Steve Jobs movie keeps adding the intriguing features. A week after writer Aaron Sorkin confirmed the casting of Christian Bale as the lead character, the Danny Boyle film looks to bring on Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak.

The Los Angeles Times has confirmed that Rogen is in talks for the untitled film. The Wrap first reported the news.

Rogen’s participation in the unconventional biopic is interesting on paper, and it could well generate plenty of talk off the film itself. Wozniak, of course, was for years the other half of the Apple equation, and though the movie focuses on Jobs during three tension-riddled launches — and Wozniak wasn’t a part of two of them — it nonetheless promises to be a role that will invite plenty of buzz (and scrutiny).

The move follows something of a pattern for dramas about real-life genius, namely, of comic actors as supporting players. The earlier, lesser-budgeted Jobs movie, the Ashton Kutcher-anchored “Jobs,” featured Josh Gad in the Wozniak role and he played it, convincingly, as a kind of lovable sad-sack. Sorkin’s own “Moneyball” followed a similar template, with Jonah Hill playing, to strong effect, the character inspired by Paul DePodesta.

Casting a comic persona like Rogen offers appeal both ways. It gives the movie a somewhat lighter, more human touch, particularly important given Jobs’ reputation as a less emotionally accessible sort. (It also could bring in some fans of the actor who wouldn’t otherwise turn out for a Sorkin-penned fact-based drama, though that’s hardly a given.)

For Rogen, meanwhile, it’s a prime chance to show his talents in a new light. The actor, who’s next up in the North Korean powderkeg “The Interview,” did bring his bro-ish charms to the drama of “50/50.” But there’s no acting prestige like the acting prestige of a real-life figure. And with some of the biggest names behind the camera, Rogen could get a splashy launch beffiting the movie’s subject.

Times correspondent Oliver Gettell (@ogettell) contributed to this report.

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