- Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin says there’s a deal on the table to reboot The West Wing on NBC
- When asked how he would bring the series back, Sorkin said he’d like to see Sterling K. Brown play the president
- ‘There’s some kind of jam…and [President] Bartlet [Martin Sheen], long since retired, is consulted in the way that Bill Clinton used to consult with Nixon’
- Brown, who is already on the popular TV show This Is Us, immediately tweeted his interest
- ‘If you are serious, sir, I would be honored!’ the Emmy award winner said
Aaron Sorkin sent West Wing fans into a frenzy on Wednesday, when he said he’s considering bringing back the show and wants to cast a black actor as president.
The screenwriter told the Hollywood Reporter that he has a standing offer from NBC to make a reboot of the hugely successful political drama, which ran for seven seasons between 1999 and 2006.
In it’s seven years on the air, the show followed the administrations of two fictional democratic presidents, the first of which was played by Martin Sheen.
Aaron Sorkin (left) said Wednesday that he has an offer from NBC to reboot The West Wing. He said he’d like to see Sterling K. Brown (right) play the president
Brown, who won an Emmy this year for his performance on the TV show This Is Us, immediately tweeted his interest in the project
When the reporter asked him if the show would reflect the current White House administration by including a President Trump-like character, Sorkin said no.
‘Trump is exactly what he looks like: a really dumb guy with an observable psychiatric disorder,’ he said.
Sorkin said his dream reboot would involve ‘Sterling K. Brown as the president, and there’s some kind of jam, an emergency, a very delicate situation involving the threat of war or something, and [President] Bartlet [played by Martin Sheen], long since retired, is consulted in the way that Bill Clinton used to consult with Nixon.’
But he says he’s stuck on how to reintroduce famous characters from the first series into the new one, such as the press secretary played by Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford’s deputy chief of staff.
The West Wing was a show that followed the administrations of two fictional democratic presidents. It ran from 1999 to 2006
Fans were quick to respond with excitement to the comment – including one Sterling K. Brown himself.
‘Aaron Sorkin, if you are serious, sir, I would be honored!’ he said.
Brown won an Emmy this year for his performance on the new TV show This Is Us. He went up against the likes of Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Matthew Rhys (The Americans) and a pre-sex scandal Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) in the category.
