Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin (born June 9, 1961, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American writer, producer, and director who brought an astute intelligence and sharp dialogue to films, television series, and plays that were often set within the combative backstage world of politics, law, or entertainment.

Sorkin grew up in suburban New York City and, as a child, discovered an affinity for the theatre. After studying the subject at Syracuse University (B.F.A., 1983), he attempted to make a living as a stage actor in New York City. Having long harboured a fascination with dialogue, Sorkin eventually turned to dramatic writing. His first two scripts received little attention, but the third, A Few Good Men (1989), was a major success on Broadway, running for more than a year. Inspired by a case related to Sorkin by his sister, a military attorney, the play centres on the court-martial of two marines accused of having killed a fellow serviceman. Sorkin was praised for his dramatic instincts and his command of the play’s milieu—despite having no personal military or legal experience. Even before A Few Good Men was staged, Sorkin sold its film rights, and he later adapted the script into an acclaimed 1992 movie starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.

The film led to further opportunities in Hollywood, and Sorkin subsequently abandoned his theatrical career. (Another play, the satirical Making Movies, had been performed Off-Broadway in 1990.) Sorkin cowrote the screenplay for the thriller Malice (1993) before penning the political romance The American President (1995), about the relationship between a widowed U.S. president (played by Michael Douglas) and a lobbyist (Annette Bening). About this time Sorkin also made uncredited contributions to several other film scripts.

Britannica Quiz

Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

While working on The American President, Sorkin developed an interest in sports television, which he parlayed into the TV series Sports Night (1998–2000). A comedy that focused on the behind-the-scenes affairs of a nightly cable sports program, the show was lauded for its clever writing, but it languished in the ratings and was eventually cancelled. Buoyed by the possibilities that television offered, however, Sorkin revisited material he had cut from The American President and created The West Wing (1999–2006), a drama that chronicled the daily workings of the White House through a fictional president and his passionately loyal staff. The show was an instant hit, winning nine Emmy Awards in its first season alone, and further contributed to Sorkin’s reputation as a purveyor of smart, sophisticated entertainment. After writing and producing nearly every episode of the first four seasons of The West Wing, Sorkin left the show in 2003.

Sorkin’s next television project was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–07), which depicted the offscreen goings-on of a TV sketch-comedy program. However, the show survived only one season. Sorkin then returned to his theatrical roots with the Broadway production The Farnsworth Invention (2007), about the historical emergence of television, and he wrote the screenplay for the film Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), based on the true story of a U.S. congressman who became involved in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

For the film The Social Network (2010), Sorkin adapted writer Ben Mezrich’s account of the origins of Facebook and the legal battles faced by its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Sorkin’s lively dialogue and classical storytelling were seen as instrumental to the movie’s success, and he won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. He later cowrote (with Steven Zaillian) the Oscar-nominated screenplay for the baseball drama Moneyball (2011); an adaptation of a book by Michael Lewis, the film told the true-life story of how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane assembled a winning team on a small budget through the use of statistics. Sorkin revisited television as both a medium and a subject with The Newsroom (2012–14), an HBO series about a cable news channel. Using Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, Sorkin then wrote the screenplay for an eponymously named film (2015) directed by Danny Boyle and starring Michael Fassbender as Jobs.

Sorkin made his directorial debut with Molly’s Game (2017), which he adapted from a memoir by Molly Bloom, who became famous when she was arrested for her role in an illegal high-stakes gambling ring favoured by Hollywood celebrities. He earned an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay. In 2018 Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) premiered on Broadway, with Jeff Daniels portraying the lead, Atticus Finch. In 2020 Sorkin returned to the big screen with The Trial of the Chicago 7, which he wrote and directed. Based on true events, the drama centres on a group of political activists who were tried for their antiwar activities during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The movie was a critical success, and Sorkin received an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay.

Get Unlimited Access

Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.

Subscribe