Work with Sorkin, Get Nominated Quiz

Answer: Jack Nicholson

Nicholson was nominated for playing Colonel Jessep, the domineering base commander in "A Few Good Men" (1992). The film is based on Sorkin's Broadway play and marks his film debut. While he was only in the film for three scenes, Nicholson made the most of them. Especially the cross-examination scene and the "You can't handle the truth" monologue.

While a "Few Good Men" is based on an actual incident that happened at Guantanamo Bay in 1986, the character of Jessep is fictional. The actual commander at the time of the incident was a Navy officer, not a Marine. Sorkin first learned of the incident from his sister, a JAG attorney at the time. He based the character of Jo Galloway on his sister, while Daniel Kaffee is based on David Iglesias, a JAG colleague of Deborah Sorkin.

Nicholson lost the Oscar to Gene Hackman, who won for playing Bill Daggett in "Unforgiven" (1992). Nicholson had two previous Academy Awards, for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and a Best Supporting Award for "Terms of Endearment" (1983). He would win his third Oscar for "As Good as It Gets" (1997) in 1998. Nicholson has been nominated twelve times over the course of his career, from "Easy Rider" (1970) to "About Schmidt" (2003).

Answer: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Hoffman was nominated for playing veteran CIA officer Gust Avrakotos, who helped Congressman Charlie Wilson fund the Mujahadeen rebels in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. Their work has serious blowback, as it led to the formation of Al Qaeda and other major terrorist organizations.

The real Avrakotos was with the CIA almost three decades, from 1962 to 1989. Much of his early work was in Greece, but he switched to the Middle East during the 1980s. He was the head of the CIA Afghanistan Desk during the war with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Avrakotos died in December 2005.

Hoffman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor times, for "Charlie Wilson's War" (2008), "Doubt" (2009) and "The Master" (2013). He won Best Actor for playing author Truman Capote in "Capote" (2006). Hoffman died in February 2014; he was only 46.

In 2008, Hoffman lost out to Javier Bardem, who was the unforgettable Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men" (2007).

Answer: Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg have a brilliant turn as the almost amoral founder of Facebook in "The Social Network." (2010). He captures the arrogance of the young billionaire as well as the genius. The film focuses on Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook through the lens of a legal battle. Sorkin wrote great lines such as "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

The real Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook as a student at Harvard University in 2004 at the age of 20. By 2007, he was a billionaire at the age of 23. Zuckerberg is regularly recognized as one of the most influential people in the world thanks to his control of the world's largest social media platform.

Eisenberg was nominated for "The Social Network" but lost to Colin Firth, who played the verbally challenged King George VI in "The King's Speech" (2010).

Answer: Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt was nominated for playing Billy Beane, the manager of Oakland Athletics, in "Moneyball" (2011). The film chronicles the creation of a 20-game winning streak team through the use of Sabremetrics, the mathematics of sports performance analysis. Pitt captures Beane's love of baseball. Sorkin based the film on Michael Lewis' 2004 book of the same name.

The real Billy Beane was an outfielder. He played for the New York Mets (1094-85), Minnesota Twins (1986-87), Detroit Tigers (1988) and finished his career with the Oakland Athletics (1989). Oakland would place him in the front office, and he served as General Manager of the A's from 1997 to 2016. While his playing career was average at best, Beane is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the history of baseball.

Pitt lost out to Jean Dujardin for his role as George Valentin in "The Artist" (2011). He was first nominated for his crazy turn in "Twelve Monkeys" (1996). Pitt was also nominated for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2009). He won an Oscar as one of the producers when "12 Years a Slave" (2014) won Best Picture. He finally won an acting award for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2020).

Answer: Jonah Hill

Jonah Hill was also nominated for "Moneyball" (2011). He plays Peter Brandt, a young Ivy League economist who Beane recruits to use his mathematical abilities to create a winning team. Brandt is based on Paul DePodesta, a Harvard graduate who was recruited by the real Billy Beane and who did overhaul the Oakland Athletics in the late 1990s.

DePodesta was so successful he was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as their general manager. He has a highly successful (93-69) if turbulent first season in 2004, only to have the Dodgers collapse in 2005 (71-91) which resulted in DePodesta being an ex-manger. DePodesta remained a consultant and is still highly influential in baseball and several other sports.

Hill was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Christopher Plummer for "Beginners" (2011). He was also nominated for "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013).

Answer: Michael Fassbender

Sorkin once again turned to the technology industry with this bio-pic about the founder of Apple. Irish actor Michael Fassbender helped bring the genius behind some of the biggest technological developments in recent decades to life. The film covers Jobs' life between 1984 and 1998. Sorkin based it on the biography by Water Issacson.

The real Steve Jobs was at the forefront of the personal computer revolution, founding Apple in 1976, and working with Steve Wozniak to create the Apple II in 1979. The company soared in 1984 with the introduction of the MacIntosh, but Jobs was forced out of the company he founded in 1985. He would found Next and Pixar, one of the most film production companies of the 21st century before a return to Apple in 1997. Jobs died of liver cancer in October 2011 at the age of 56.

Fassbender was nominated in 2014 for "12 Years a Slave." He was nominated for Best Actor for his turn as Jobs but lost out to Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Revenant" (2015).

Answer: Kate Winslet

Winslet was the second nominee from the 2015 bio-pic about the founder of Apple. She played Joanna Hoffman, one of the earliest employees at Apple and one of the few people in the company who could successfully confront Jobs.

Joanna Hoffman joined Apple when MacIntosh was still a research project, and made many of the key decisions regarding its creation. She also worked with Jobs at Next but left in the late 1980s.
The role of Hoffman was very successful for Winslet, as she won both a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for it. She lost the Academy Award to Alicia Vikander for her work in "The Danish Girl" (2015).

Winslet won the Best Actress award in 2009 for her work in "The Reader" (2008). Her other nominations were for "Sense and Sensibility" (1996), "Titanic" (1997), "Iris" (2002), "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2005) and "Little Children" (2007).

Answer: Sacha Baron Cohen

Sorkin both wrote and directed "The Trial of the Chicago 7", which details the trial of seven activists in the wake of the turbulent 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Cohen, best known for his comic performances such as Borat, was nominated for playing activist Abbie Hoffman.

The real Abbie Hoffman was 31 at the time of the Democratic Convention. He was a leading proponent of the "Flower Power" movement and a major opponent of the war in Vietnam. In 1971, Hoffman published "Steal This Book". He remained an activist throughout his life and died in April 1989 at the age of 52.

While "Trial of the Chicago 7" was Cohen's first Academy Award nomination, he did receive a great deal of attention for "Borat" (2006) which won him a Golden Globe and for his role as Thernadier in "Les Miserables" (2012). Cohen was nominated for playing Hoffman but lost out to Daniel Kaluuya, who played Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2020).

Answer: Nicole Kidman

Sorkin wrote and directed "Being the Ricardos" (2021), a look into a crisis filled week in the lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz centered around the filming of an episode of their groundbreaking sitcom "I Love Lucy". Kidman played Lucille Ball.

The real Lucille Ball is one of the most iconic comedians of the 20th century. She and her husband Desi Arnaz revolutionized television comedy in the 1950s with "I Love Lucy". Many of the technical methods they originated remained central to television comedy for decades. Ball had several series after "I Love Lucy" as well as acting in dozens of films between 1933 and 1950. As a producer, Ball was responsible for both "Mission Impossible" and "Star Trek" two of the best series of the 1960s and both huge film and television franchises.

Kidman lost the Academy Award to Jessica Chastain for her work as Tammy Faye Baker in "the Eyes of Tammy Faye" (2021). Kidman won for playing author Virginia Woolf in the 2002 film "The Hours" and was nominated for "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), "Rabbit Hole" (2011) and "Lion" (Supporting 2016).

Answer: Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem was the other half of the Ricardos in "Being the Ricardos" (2021) as Desi Arnaz. As the film shows, Arnaz was a highly intelligent businessman as well as a talented musician. Arnaz helped create the modern sitcom during "I Love Lucy" and the program remains one of the best examples of television comedy ever made.

The real Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) grew up in Cuba but came to Miami at the age of 16 in 1933. Arnaz got his first big break working for bandleader Xavier Cugat. Arnaz married Lucille Ball in November 1940. Their marriage was turbulent, as he was frequently unfaithful. They did have two children, Desi Jr (1953) and Lucie (1951). After twenty years, they finally divorced in 1960.

Javier Bardem was nominated but lost to Will Smith for playing tennis dad Richard Williams in "King Richard" (2021). Bardem did win for his chilling portrayal of hitman Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men" (2007). The Spanish actor was also nominated for "Before Night Falls" (2000) and "Biutiful" (2010).