KJ Apa Wins Praise From Jimmy Stewart's Daughter for His Role in the Jimmy Biopic

Playing a Hollywood legend is one of the riskiest jobs an actor can take. Audiences already know the voice, the walk and the face, and every choice is measured against memory. So when the family of the person being portrayed offers praise, it carries real weight.

That is what has happened for KJ Apa. As reported by Variety on October 11, 2026, Jimmy Stewart's daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, has publicly praised Apa's performance as her father in the upcoming biopic Jimmy, which opens in theaters on November 6.

What Stewart's Daughter Said

According to Variety, Stewart-Harcourt shared her reaction in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. She said it was eerie to see Apa in character in person while she filmed a guest appearance in the movie.

Her biggest worry, she explained, was that an actor might simply imitate her father. "I was thrilled, because the problem with somebody playing dad… was that you don't want to sit there and listen to a Jimmy Stewart impersonation for two hours," she told the magazine, as quoted by Variety.

She added that her father had such a distinctive way of speaking that it would be hard for any actor to avoid an impression. In her view, Apa found another path. "KJ channels him and brings him to life without doing a Jimmy Stewart impersonation. So I don't see how they could have found anybody better," she said.

The Story Behind Jimmy

Variety reports that the film follows Stewart's journey from winning an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story to serving in World War II. During the war, he flew 20 missions over Europe and rose to the rank of colonel. After coming home, he returned to the screen as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, the holiday classic that audiences still revisit every December.

That arc gives the biopic a shape that goes beyond a typical showbiz story. It is a portrait of a movie star who stepped away from fame at its height to serve, then came back and made some of the most enduring work of his career.

In a 2025 statement quoted by Variety, Apa described Stewart as "an American Hero" and said his story is "one of strength and purpose, love and honor, fame and war."

A Strong Supporting Cast

Aaron Burns directs the film. According to Variety, the cast includes Kara Killmer as Lady Julia, Neal McDonough as Stewart's father, Alexander, Max Casella as Frank Capra and Jason Alexander as Louis B. Mayer.

Christopher McDonald plays Lionel Barrymore, Sarah Drew plays the Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper and Rob Riggle plays Colonel Terrill. Julian Works appears as Second Lieutenant Martinez, and Jen Lilley plays Gloria Stewart, the actor's wife. Variety also noted that its own Marc Malkin makes an appearance as the bandleader Glenn Miller.

Putting Capra, Mayer, Barrymore and Hopper on screen suggests the film will spend time inside the studio system of the 1940s, when stars were under contract and gossip columnists held enormous influence.

A Big Step for KJ Apa

For Apa, the role marks a major turn. The New Zealand born actor became widely known to audiences as Archie Andrews on the CW series Riverdale, and he has since moved into film roles. Taking on one of the most recognizable actors of the classic Hollywood era is a very different challenge.

Biopics of beloved stars often succeed or fail on a single question: does the lead capture the spirit of the person without turning into a caricature? Endorsement from a family member who knew Stewart as a father does not settle that question for critics, but it is the kind of early signal that studios and audiences notice.

What Comes Next

Jimmy arrives in theaters on November 6, in the middle of a busy fall season. Audiences who grew up with Stewart's films, and younger viewers who know Apa from television, will both have reasons to be curious.

Hollywood Magazine will follow the reviews and the box office when the film opens. For now, the strongest early review may have come from the person who knew Jimmy Stewart best at home.

Source: Variety, "Jimmy Stewart's Daughter Commends KJ Apa's Performance in 'Jimmy' Biopic," October 11, 2026, citing an interview with Entertainment Weekly.