Madonna reveals plot details for biopic movie: Andy Warhol, 'Vogue' dancers, Evita , more
Debi Mazar Discusses Her Friendship with Madonna and Reminisces About How She Got into Acting
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Madame X is a self-proclaimed "dancer, a professor, a head of state, a housekeeper, an equestrian, a prisoner, a student, a mother, a child, a teacher, a nun, a singer," and "a saint," but she can officially add "auto-biopic screenwriter" to her long list of professions.
Madonna has finally confirmed that the mystery project she's been writing throughout quarantine with Oscar-winning Juno scribe Diablo Cody is in fact a movie about her life. In a Thursday evening Instagram Live session, the pop icon revealed extensive details about the film's plot, describing its focus as "about my struggle as an artist trying to survive in a man's world as a woman, and really just the journey," which she describes as a "happy, sad, mad, crazy, good, bad, and ugly" tale of the making of a superstar.
The 62-year-old confirmed the pair have so far written 107 pages of the script, which they said will likely end up with a two-hour runtime.
"We do talk about Andy [Warhol], and Keith [Haring], and Jean-Michel Basquiat and Martin Burgoyne and the whole coming up as an artist in Manhattan, downtown, Lower East Side in the early '80s," Madonna said of the project. "Honestly, [it's] one of the best times of my life, and one of the worst times. I hope I can portray or express what a thrilling time that was for me in every way."
It appears Cody's signature wit and signature comedic edge will make their way into the movie as well, given that Madonna describes Warhol's dialogue as "monosyllabic," and scenes with Madonna's sister, Paula Ciccone, as being tinged with "dry, sarcastic, ironic" bite.
Among notable moments in Madonna's life that the current screenplay covers are her time filming the controversial film Evita, which she reveals led to an unpleasant experience with Andrew Lloyd Webber during the production of the movie adaptation of his stage musical: "I think I had a few nervous breakdowns worrying that I was going to be fired every day," she said, further revealing in response to a fan question that, "No, [Andrew] wasn't, he was not nice to me. I'm not sure he even wanted me in the movie." (In a statement to EW, a spokesman for Webber said: "She must have Andrew confused with somebody else. Andrew and Madonna had a very smooth and productive working relationship on the Evita film.")
The currently untitled movie is set to feature scenes about the creations of some of Madonna's most memorable works, including a "great scene of me writing 'Like a Prayer' with Pat Leonard, all the way to the end, all the way to the devastating experience with Pepsi," she recalls, referencing the soft drink company infamously severing its sponsorship contract with the superstar after intense social backlash over the 1989 single's religiously themed music video.
Madonna also promised a scene depicting her first meeting with Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza and Luis Xtravaganza, two members of New York City's Harlem ballroom scene that played a monumental role in the success of her 1990 smash song "Vogue" and the voguing craze the trio largely ushered into the mainstream culture.
Though the film will focus on key musical moments throughout Madonna's life, "it's not a musical, but there's a lot of music, and there's a lot of the actress who will play me singing my songs, but in places where she's supposed to be singing," Madonna said. Over the years, fans have speculated as to who could potentially play the singer-songwriter in an eventual biopic, and in recent weeks their focus turned to Ozark actress Julia Garner after it was discovered that both Madonna and her manager, Guy Oseary, had followed the 26-year-old on Instagram.
More official details on the Madonna biopic have yet to be announced, but you can watch the hour-long Instagram Live video with its creators in full above.
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