Actor Julia Garner confirmed she’s playing superstar Madonna in the long-awaited biopic about the performer’s life.
“I can’t say too much about it, but yes, it’s a work in progress,” the 31-year-old told W Magazine in a video posted Wednesday.
Madonna first announced in 2020 that she would co-write, along with Diablo Cody, and direct a biopic about her life and career.
“I want 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,” Madonna said in a statement at the time. “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.”
Rumors had flown for years that Garner would portray the Queen of Pop in the biopic, but Universal Pictures shelved the project in 2023. Madonna then shared in a 2024 Instagram post that she was working on the script again, and this July, Garner said on the “Smartless” podcast that the film was “supposed to still happen” — without quite confirming that she’d landed the lead role.
At the time, Garner only shared her audition experience.
“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,” she said. “And sing with her!”
Auditions to play Madonna in the biopic were reportedly long and grueling, with some describing the process as “Madonna Bootcamp.” Before Garner officially landed the role, stars who were reportedly up for the part included Florence Pugh, Alexa Demie, Bebe Rexha and Sky Ferreira.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the audition process included up to 11-hour days featuring choreography sessions with Madonna’s choreographer and the pop icon herself. At callbacks, hopefuls had to read and sing with Madonna.
During a 2021 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Madonna said she was taking the reins on her biopic because, in the past, men were the ones who had tried to write movies about her.
“I’m thinking, why would these people make a movie about my life?” she said. “There’s nothing true in the script. The guy who’s making it has no understanding of women, no appreciation of women, no respect for women.”
She later added: “There’s nobody on this planet that can write or direct, make a movie about me better than me. And that is just the truth.”
This won’t be Garner’s first time taking on the role of a real person. In 2022, she played convicted con artist Anna Delvey in Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” and was nominated for several awards for her performance.
Neither Madonna nor Garner’s reps immediately responded to a request for comment.
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