Julia Garner confirmed that she is still on track to portray Madonna in an upcoming biopic. In a new interview on the podcast Smartless, the actress said that despite reports to the contrary the movie is set to go ahead.
“That’s supposed to still happen,” Garner told hosts Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman. She recounted auditioning for the role of Madonna for the singer, who is directing the film. “I was such a fan of Madonna’s,” she said. “I grew up listening to Madonna. It just came about. I knew that they were doing a project—making a movie about it.”
She added, “I kind of just wanted to see if I could do it, because I wasn’t a trained dancer and I had to learn how to dance and then dance in front of her and convince her that I can dance, basically, and sing. And sing with her!”
Garner explained that she mentally prepared by asking herself, “OK, what would Madonna do?” “Which is convince you that she deserves, you know, to be in this room, and I owned it,” she said. “I was kind of like, ‘You can take it or leave it, but if you leave it, if I leave, then that’s on you. If you take it, great.’ That kind of mentality. And literally work the room.”
As for the delay, she observed, “anything that’s great… takes a long time.”
Madonna’s biopic, which was first announced in 2020, was shelved by Universal Pictures in 2023. Last summer, the singer confirmed on Instagram that she was working on the script again, revealing a potential title of Who’s That Girl. In 2022, Madonna told Variety that whittling down the script had been a challenge.
“I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film,” she said. “It was also a preemptive strike because a lot of people were trying to make movies about me. Mostly misogynistic men. So I put my foot in the door and said, ‘No one’s going to tell my story but me.’”
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Earlier this year, it was reported that Madonna is working with filmmaker Shawn Levy to develop a limited series at Netflix. It’s unclear what period of Madonna’s career the television series will focus on, although she has previously hinted at the biopic being turned into a TV series.
Garner is currently starring as the Silver Surfer in Marvel‘s Fantastic Four. She will also lead Weapons, an upcoming horror film from Zach Cregger. That movie hits theaters on Aug. 8.
From Rolling Stone US
