Writer-director Noah Baumbach explains the roots of the scene-stealing character.

How Billy Crudup’s pivotal scene leaves George Clooney’s *Jay Kelly *questioning his life choices

Writer-director Noah Baumbach explains the roots of the scene-stealing character.

By Gerrad Hall

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

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December 20, 2025 2:26 p.m. ET

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Billy Crudup in 'Jay Kelly'. Credit:

Peter Mountain/Netflix

Is Jay Kelly a good person...and good at what he does?

The world-famous movie star, played by George Clooney in director Noah Baumbach's latest film (streaming on Netflix), has come to a point of reflection in his career. He's just wrapped production on his next film, and the director who gave him his big break, his mentor, Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), has suddenly died — prompting him to reflect on his own life and decisions.

"Part of what Jay is contending with is the notion of, *Am I good?* It's another form of questioning identity, of *Who am I?* " Baumbach explains to ** of his title character's existential crisis. "Jay identifies himself as a winning, good person. The culture has supported that in his life."

But Baumbach and his co-writer, actress Emily Mortimer (who costars as Jay's hairstylist), wondered: What would happen to Jay if someone told him he's not such a good person?**

Billy Crudup and George Clooney in 'Jay Kelly'.

That somebody is Jay's old friend Timothy, played by Billy Crudup, whose almost 10 minutes on screen are a real masterclass in making the most of a supporting role. They run into each other at Peter's funeral and decide to catch up over drinks (at a bar named Chez Jay, no less). What starts as a nice reunion — reminiscing about their early days in Hollywood, when Timothy, now a family man, had hopes of being an actor — turns sour when Jay asks Timothy to show off his stellar method-acting skills by reading the menu.

Decades of pent-up animosity that Timothy has felt for Jay, much to his surprise, come bubbling to the surface. We learn in flashback that Jay accompanied Timothy to audition for moral support, but after Timothy bombs, asks if he can read for the part. Jay even uses the edits Timothy had made to the script, but never got to deliver in his own audition. The director — yep, Peter Schneider — loves Jay. And the rest is history.

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Timothy has resented Jay ever since. He got the part...he even got his girlfriend. "You kinda stole my life," Timothy tells him. Jay, though he doesn't say it out loud, doesn't disagree — in the back of Jay's mind, he's always wondered if he's actually a good actor, and if he could've gotten the role on his own...without hijacking his friend's audition and line notes.

Charlie Rowe as Young Jay and George Clooney in 'Jay Kelly'.

In the present day, that animosity eventually escalates into an offscreen physical confrontation — the next day, Jay has a black eye, and video of the incident starts popping up on social media. Later, we learn that Jay also broke Timothy's nose during the scuffle.

Reflecting on this foil for Jay, Baumbach says he's been thinking about his own career and movies. His observation: "I've more written about the Timothy character than I have the Jay character. A lot of my movies have people who define themselves, I think, by who they *aren't*. And so in some ways, I realized I'm almost bringing a character from another movie, an earlier movie, into this thing," he explains. "Essentially, I think what Jay's dealing with is the other side of the same coin as what those characters are dealing with, which is, defining yourself by your success [or your failure]...both sides of the coin are keeping you away from who you might actually be."

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While Timothy might've been the guy who embodied the notion, Baumbach says, of "the most talented person I've ever met" and was going to "go on to do great things," he's now very happy in his life as a child therapist, married with children. Jay is divorced, estranged from his oldest daughter (Riley Keough), and struggling to connect with his youngest daughter (Grace Edwards), who just took off for a European vacation with friends despite his plea to spend time with him. But, Baumbach says, that flashback does show one big difference between Timothy and Jay — and, perhaps, why Jay was, indeed, worthy of earning the acting job and the successes that came with it.**

When young Timothy and Jay are sitting at the audition, Jay tells Timothy to eat a piece of paper with Marlon Brando's photo on it — to harness the powers of the iconic actor. Timothy declined...but, "what the memory maybe shows is, Jay Kelly ate the picture of Marlon Brando," Baumbach says. "Jay Kelly ate the paper, and you have to eat the paper to become Jay Kelly."**

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