Steve Jobs, the newest movie about the famed Apple creator, may focus on the rise of Jobs and his technological revolution, but another star has emerged from the film: Joanna Hoffman, head of marketing at Apple and one of Jobs' most trusted confidants. Hoffman, as played by Kate Winslet, plays a huge part in the movie — most notably, she's the only prominent, professional woman depicted in the film. As one of Jobs' most loyal supporters and co-workers, she has a serious amount of screen-time in Danny Boyle's new film, so it's natural to wonder how Joanna Hoffman feels about Steve Jobs.
Hoffman has yet to comment on the finished film, and it's unclear whether or not she acted as a paid consultant on Steve Jobs, like Steve Wozniak, who was reportedly paid $200,000 to consult on the film. However, according to Winslet, Hoffman made herself available to the actress, opening up about everything, from her personal relationship with Jobs to the origins of her unique accent. A Polish immigrant, Hoffman has a very intricate way of speaking that Winslet has said she was desperate to nail.
"She was very, very generous with her stories. And I really just benefited from that, in particular, and working with her dialect, because I really wanted to capture how she spoke, how she sounded. She's really nothing like me. So I really had to do as much as I could to absorb her, I think," Winslet told The Hollywood Reporter.
Winslet said that Hoffman was instrumental in the making of the film, particularly because she allowed the actress to see a softer side of the infamously difficult genius. "I loved spending time with her because she shared stories with me about her time with Steve and her relationship with Steve that a lot of people just don't know anything about. And I actually came to understand a much softer, gentler side of Steve Jobs, a side of Steve Jobs who I think was kept sort of hidden away and private to those people or to his family," Winslet told Entertainment Weekly.
Winslet wasn't the only person from the Steve Jobs film to meet with Hoffman. Hoffman spoke with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who incorporated some of her musings on Jobs in the screenplay, according to a panel given by the movie's cast and crew at the Telluride Film Festival.
"She said: 'Steve Jobs was just like a frat boy.' She did genuinely love him. And spending time with her, when I was figuring out how to play this difficult f--king terrible part, she would become very emotional. She misses him terribly," Winslet said, according to The Guardian.
Being portrayed by one of the most famous and accomplished actresses of our time must be intimidating, but seems that Hoffman was determined to help make Steve Jobs as honest a tale as possible.
Images: Universal Pictures
