George Clooney is Jay Kelly. Or more accurately, Clooney stars in Jay Kelly, the Noah Baumbach 2025 new movie about a movie star evaluating his life and career.
The Oscar-winning actor gave an interview with Variety where he addressed an idea that some fans have about him only playing characters like himself; in a fun bit of meta, that is a question his Jay Kelly character is asked in the movie. While parallels are likely easily drawn, with Baumbach and an ensemble of well-known stars alongside Clooney, we’d wager there’s a bit more to this than Clooney playing a fictional version of himself.
To get an idea of what that may be, let’s dive into everything you need to know about Netflix’s Jay Kelly, including when the movie premieres, what it’s about and who else is in it.
Jay Kelly release date
Jay Kelly is one of the Netflix movies this year that is going to get a theatrical release prior to it becoming available on the streaming service. Specifically, Jay Kelly will premiere in select theaters on November 14 (TBD how many theaters that entails).
After a three-week exclusive run in theaters, Jay Kelly premieres on Netflix on December 5, at which point anyone with a Netflix subscription can watch it.
Jay Kelly cast
Once again, George Clooney leads the cast of Jay Kelly as the titular character. Clooney is most recently coming off a run on Broadway playing famous newsman Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, but on the big screen his recent credits have included Wolfs, Ticket to Paradise and The Midnight Sky.
Second billing for Jay Kelly belongs to Adam Sandler, who plays Jay Kelly’s longtime and devoted manager, Ron. Sandler starred in one of the biggest Netflix movies of all time this year in Happy Gilmore 2, and has worked closely with Netflix on all of his recent projects, including Spaceman, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzah and Hustle. Sandler also has past experience working with Baumbach, having starred in his The Meyerowitz Stories.
A plethora of other well-known stars are set to appear as part of the Jay Kelly cast. They include:
- Laura Dern (Marriage Story, Little Women)
- Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, 20th Century Women)
- Riley Keough (Zola, Daisy Jones & the Six)
- Grace Edwards (Asteroid City, Call Jane)
- Stacy Keach (Nebraska, The Bourne Legacy)
- Jim Broadbent (Gangs of New York, Another Year)
- Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring: Last Rites, Angels in America)
- Eve Hewson (The Perfect Couple, Flora and Son)
- Greta Gerwig (White Noise, Frances Ha)
- Alba Rohrwacher (Maria, La Chimera)
- Josh Hamilton (Maestro, Kicking and Screaming)
- Lenny Henry (Missing You, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl)
- Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl, Match Point)
- Nicôle Lecky (Mood, Sense8)
- Thaddea Graham (Bad Sisters, Sex Education)
- Isla Fisher (Now You See Me: Now You Don't)
- Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes, Enola Holmes 2)
- Charlie Rowe (Never Let Me Go)
Jay Kelly plot
Noah Baumbach co-wrote the Jay Kelly script with Emily Mortimer. Here is the movie’s synopsis from Netflix:
“The new film from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach follows famous movie actor Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron as they embark on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe. Along the way, both men are forced to confront the choices they’ve made, the relationships with their loved ones, and the legacies they’ll leave behind.”
Jay Kelly trailer
Watch the Jay Kelly trailer directly below:
Noah Baumbach movies
Noah Baumbach has long been a staple of the indie movie scene, but has become a more widely recognized filmmaker thanks to his ongoing partnership with Netflix, which includes his Oscar-nominated movie Marriage Story, and him co-writing the script for Barbie with his wife Greta Gerwig.
But for a complete picture of Baumbach’s career, here is his full list of feature directing credits:
- Kicking and Screaming (1995)
- Mr. Jealousy (1997)
- Highball (1997)
- The Squid and the Whale (2005)
- Margot at the Wedding (2007)
- Greenberg (2010)
- Frances Ha (2012)
- While We’re Young (2014)
- Mistress America (2015)
- De Palma (2015)
- The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)
- Marriage Story (2019)
- White Noise (2022)
Jay Kelly behind the scenes
Jay Kelly was made by Heyday Films, NBGG Pictures and Pascal Pictures, with Netflix backing it all. Producers on the movie are Baumbach, David Heyman and Amy Pascal.
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