KJ Apa on Jimmy Stewart's Daughter Reaction to JIMMY
The actor says honoring Stewart's military service mattered more to him than the Hollywood legacy.
KJ Apa appeared on TODAY to discuss playing Jimmy Stewart in the new biopic Jimmy, focusing much of the conversation on how Stewart's daughter Kelly reacted after seeing the finished film. Apa said, "Nothing makes me happier than Jimmy's daughter Kelly loving the movie. That was the most important thing to me."
The film tells what Apa described as an untold chapter of Stewart's life, centering on his service as a WWII combat pilot before he went on to star in It's a Wonderful Life. Apa emphasized that the project's focus was on Stewart's military record rather than his film career, telling TODAY, "Forget the movies. The most important thing to him was his service, his country."
Apa previously discussed the role during an appearance on THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING Jimmy Fallon, where he also addressed comparisons to musician Mr. Fantasy and spoke about fatherhood. That appearance gave an earlier preview of his approach to portraying Stewart ahead of the film's release. Read more about that conversation here.
On TODAY, Apa framed his portrayal around Stewart's wartime record as the defining element of the story, positioning the biopic as an exploration of a period in Stewart's life that preceded his best-known screen work.
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