Aaron Sorkin is talking about The West Wing and why it would be “tricky” to make a show like that in the current political environment.
However, in a new interview, the filmmaker says that not a day goes by without him thinking about reviving the political drama.
“There’s probably a couple of seconds every day when I think about it,” Sorkin said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, adding, “It would be very, very tricky to do in the current environment.”
Sorkin noted that returning to the series “would be fun,” adding, “I miss it.”
Sorkin created The West Wing, a political drama that ran on NBC for seven seasons, from 1999 to 2006. The series takes place during the fictional two-term Democratic administration of President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen.
As far as what President Bartlet would think of the current political environment, Sorkin told the publication, “I’d like to take a little time before I put words in Jed Bartlet’s mouth. I’ll just say that I don’t think his reaction would be dissimilar to most of our reactions to what’s going on right now.”
The West Wing also starred Rob Lowe, Moira Kelly, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, Dulé Hill, Stockard Channing, Kathryn Joosten, Joshua Malina, Mary McCormack, Jimmy Smits, Alan Alda, and Kristen Chenoweth, who appeared in the last two seasons.
Sorkin’s latest film is The Social Reckoning, a legal thriller and follow-up to 2010’s The Social Network. The film takes place 16 years after the events of the first film, with Jeremy Strong taking over the role of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who was originally portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg.