Actor Josh Gad took programming courses to be Woz
Actor Josh Gad, who plays the Apple co-founder in the upcoming movie "jOBS," says he took programming courses to prepare for the role.
SAN FRANCISCO--Last week it was revealed that actor Ashton Kutcher ended up in the hospital after going on an all-fruit diet to be like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It turns out, Kutcher's co-star Josh Gad went through some of his own method acting to channel Apple's other co-founder, Steve Wozniak.
"I had to take programming classes," Gad told attendees today at Macworld iWorld, during an onstage interview with Kutcher. "Acting by its very nature is faking. You don't become that person unless you're psychotic."
Gad added that he "was as computer illiterate as Steve Wozniak was computer literate."
Kutcher, for his part, said he spent more than 100 hours listening to recordings of Jobs, including the creation of a file on audio-sharing service SoundCloud that was a greatest hits of presentations, interviews, and other public speeches.
"I started walking around repeating what he said to other people," Kutcher said, garnering laughter from a crowded room of conference attendees.
Gad also used the time to respond to criticism raised by the real Wozniak over the authenticity of his portrayal on film, saying it's hard to judge the movie from a short clip.
"I adore Steve Wozniak," Gad said. "I hope that when he sees the movie in its entirety, we went to great lengths to capture the essence of his journey," adding that "there will always be debates over what we got right and what we got wrong."
The interview comes less than a week after the premiere of "jOBS", which was the closing night film at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie has received mixed reviews, with many critics finding fault in the story, but not necessarily Kutcher's performance as the iconic CEO. You can read CNET's review here.
"jOBS" hits theaters in the U.S. on April 19, with an international release to follow.