It seems like everyone in Hollywood is dying for a role in an Aaron Sorkin project. The walk-and-talk pioneer can put pen to paper for nearly anything, and the stars come running. Hollywood icon Ed Asner already had the opportunity to try his hand at Sorkin's fast-paced dialogue on the short-lived NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. But it looks like that's not good enough for Asner.
At an opening-night party for his darkly comic new Broadway play Grace (in which he stars with Paul Rudd and Michael Shannon), Asner told Vulture that he wants a part on Sorkin's latest hit, the HBO series The Newsroom. In fact, he already has his role picked out. "I could be Fox News," he explained.
Asner also asserted that he can go up against fellow legend Jane Fonda, who stars on the series: "I can give her a run for her money."
Asner, who is perhaps best known for his Emmy-winning role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, had less-than-reverant words for the celebrated scribe himself: "I hate Aaron Sorkin because he didn't hire me."
Perhaps Asner's honest approach to courting Sorkin will persuade him to write the legendary actor onto the show, which already stars acclaimed actors like Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston.