Q & Andy: Aaron Sorkin

It is for his toothsome, smart cannonades of dialogue that Aaron Sorkin became famous, first as a playwright (A Few Good Men), then as a television auteur (The West Wing, The Newsroom) and Academy Award-winning screenwriter (The Social Network). And if you think there is anyone better at writing about brilliant men doing big things (whether a president, a news presenter, or a programmer), you simply can’t handle the truth. Which makes Sorkin’s new project, scripting Danny Boyle‘s biopic about the iconoclastic, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, based on the hugely popular biography by Walter Isaacson, a film fan’s dream scenario. In advance of the movie’s release, the writer exchanged e-mails with Andy.

ANDY WARHOL: What did you eat for breakfast?

AARON SORKIN: A hamburger on an English muffin.

WARHOL: What was your first job?

SORKIN: I had a paper route and I delivered singing telegrams.

WARHOL: What are you working on now?

SORKIN: I’ve just delivered a new screenplay

WARHOL: Is there anything you regret not doing?

SORKIN: Plenty, but is my time up?

WARHOL: Do you have any intimate secrets?

SORKIN: Not yet, but I’m still hoping.

WARHOL: What’s your favorite movie?

SORKIN: It’s a tie between The Godfather and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And The Graduate. Also Annie Hall and roughly 120 others.

WARHOL: When do you get nervous?

SORKIN: I get nervous before openings or premieres or when someone’s reading a new script, and I get nervous when my daughter isn’t in my immediate field of vision.

WARHOL: Do you dream? What’s the last one you remember?

SORKIN:  I can’t remember my dreams more than a couple of seconds after I wake up. It’s frustrating because sometimes I dream that I’m watching a really good movie.

WARHOL: Are you a good cook? If so, what’s your specialty?

SORKIN: Over the years I’ve developed a grilled cheese sandwich I’m proud of, but I don’t want to sound braggy.

WARHOL: How come you didn’t become an inventor?

SORKIN: I was this close. All I needed was an idea and the skills to execute it.

WARHOL: Do you feel frustrated with the way things are now between men and women?

SORKIN: Do you mean specifically at my house?

WARHOL: Isn’t New York great?

SORKIN: As a matter of fact it is.