‘Riverdale’ Star KJ Apa to Play Jimmy Stewart in New Biopic

KJ Apa is headed from Riverdale to Bedford Falls. Apa, 28, best known for playing Archie on the CW’s Riverdale, has been cast as James “Jimmy” Stewart in Jimmy, an upcoming biopic about the Hollywood icon and It’s a Wonderful Life star.

“I have always been a huge James Stewart fan and feel so honored I get to bring his story to life,” Apa said Tuesday morning, per Variety. “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.”

The film will document Stewart’s rise in Hollywood, from winning an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story, to enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the start of World War II, to returning home to star in Frank Capra‘s It’s A Wonderful Life.

Jack Rowand / ©The CW / courtesy Everett Collection

Stewart died in 1997 at age 89. His daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, serves as an executive producer on the film.

“My family and I are delighted and excited that KJ Apa has agreed to play my father in this film,” she said to Variety. “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.”

Apa joins a cast that includes Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander as Louis B. Mayer, co-founder of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer studios; Max Casella, of Doogie Howser, M.D. and The Sopranos fame, as director Fank Capra; Grey’s Anatomy star Sarah Drew as controversial gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Juliam Works, of 9-1-1: Lone Star, as Second Lieutenant Martinez; and Days of Our Lives alum Jen Lilley as Stewart’s wife, Gloria.

Aaron Burns, who directed Birthright Outlaw, is at the helm for Jimmy. The film aims for a theatrical release in November 2026.