Riverdale and The Map That Leads To You star KJ Apa is set to play Hollywood legend James Stewart in Jimmy, a biopic of the iconic actor from director Aaron Burns (Legacy Peak) and executive produced by Stewart’s daughter Kelly Stewart-Harcourt.
“I have always been a huge James Stewart fan and feel so honored I get to bring his story to life,” said Apa. “As someone from New Zealand, I’ve long admired that generation of American men who stood for patriotism, integrity, and a deep sense of duty. It is important to me to give back to a country that has given me so much, and what better way to do that than by honoring a man who served it with great honor.”
“My family and I are delighted and excited that KJ Apa has agreed to play my father in this film,” added Stewart-Harcourt. “In addition to his considerable acting skills, KJ’s enthusiasm for the project will only add to the energy and depth he will bring to the role.”
“Jimmy Stewart is universally beloved as an actor. He truly embodied the everyman,” said director and producer Burns. “We all know him from It’s A Wonderful Life, but as I discovered his real-life story as a World War II military hero, I realized Jimmy’s life makes for an amazing movie. I’m truly honored that Kelly Stewart-Harcourt and the Stewart family have entrusted Burns & Co. to share Jimmy with the world, and I’m excited to see KJ Apa and the rest of our amazing cast bring this story to life.”
The logline for Jimmy reads: “Telling the story of America’s most-beloved actor and the iconic role that saved him, Jimmy focuses on the most transformative season in Stewart’s life—from winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in Philadelphia Story to enlisting and becoming a combat pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II. He flew twenty missions over Europe, rising to the rank of colonel by the end of the war, only to return home broken and disheartened. Then, George Bailey came calling…”
Filming on Jimmy will get underway in Cork, Ireland on September 1st ahead of a theatrical release in November 2026.
