Update: Madonna has reportedly scrapped the biopic about her life starring Julia Garner to focus on her world tour. According to Variety, insiders say Madonna remains committed to making a film about her life one day.
Madonna has found the actress to play her in an upcoming biopic: Inventing Anna star Julia Garner. The pop icon is directing the film about her own life and career, and has reportedly been extremely involved in the process.
She reportedly held a "Madonna bootcamp" for actresses—which included Garner, Florence Pugh, Alexa Demie, and Odessa Young, among others—that consisted of 11-hour choreography sessions and singing auditions with Madonna herself.
"The reason I’m doing it is because a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men," Madonna told Jimmy Fallon in October 2021. "I read that Universal was doing a script… they wanted my blessing, and I read it. It was the most hideous, superficial crap I’ve ever read. This [has] happened a couple of times. So, finally, I just threw down the gauntlet."
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the current draft of the film ends with her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour.
In the announcement of the film, Madonna said she hoped to "convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer — a human being, trying to make her way in this world. The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive. There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision."
In a recent interview with Variety, Madonna shared that she has a very long script that is "really hard for me to make shorter." She added, "I've been whittling away at it but it's like hacking off my limbs."
Madonna opened up on why she wanted to make the film, saying that she's had "an extraordinary life" therefore "must make an extraordinary film."
"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,'" the pop star added.
This will be a major film role for Julia Garner, who most recently starred in two hit television shows on Netflix: Inventing Anna as New York City con artist Anna Delvey and Ozark as criminal Ruth Langmore. She made her acting debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011.
"I would consider myself a dreamer," Garner told Town & Country in February. "In the business that we’re in, you have to be."
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
