Prince’s Ex-Wife Wants Selena Gomez to Star in Her Biopic

Just a few weeks after Selena Gomez landed the role of Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic, she’s been dream-cast for another movie based on a real person.

Mayte Garcia, the ex-wife of Prince, said in a podcast interview released Tuesday that she wants Gomez to play her in the upcoming movie adaptation of her memoir, The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince.

“You know what’s funny? At first, when people started talking to me about [casting], in my mind I thought Selena Gomez [could play me],” Garcia told host Allison Kugel on the Allison Interviews podcast.

When asked what qualities drew her to Gomez, Garcia responded: “I saw her picture, and there’s just something about her. She’s got a friendliness and innocence to her that I relate to. I just saw her playing me. I think she could do it. … But I’ve also had people send me some other people and I think, ‘Wow, she looks like me, but can she have that essence of whatever I have?’ I think we will find it. I don’t think it’s as much of a looks thing, as long as they have the mannerisms down.”

Garcia—a former dancer who was married to Prince from 1996 to 2000—added that it’s important to her to find “somebody who can move,” and said she’d like to be involved with teaching choreography to the actress who’s ultimately tasked with playing her. Garcia clarified, however, that casting for the film has not yet begun, and that she’s not directly involved with the casting process.

Deadline reported in November 2023 that Crazy Legs Features had nabbed the film rights to The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince, which was released in 2017 and chronicles Garcia’s romance with the musician, who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016. The book also covers the tragic story of Garcia and Prince’s only son Amiir, who died of a rare genetic disorder six days after his birth in 1996.

Garcia told Kugel she hopes Amiir’s death will be portrayed sensitively in the film, saying, “It depends on the director and where they want to go. I think it’s a big, big turning point in our lives that happened, so I think it should be [included] in a very sensitive way, but definitely shown. With that loss, I think it is also very therapeutic for people to see. So, I hope they put that in there.”

As for who could play her iconic late ex-husband on screen, Garcia didn’t name any names.

“I mean, there’s some amazing actors out there. And I think of course with, you know, watching videos and studying, I think somebody could do it,” she said. “For me, I mean, I think if there’s an essence of him and just the connection and the love shared and shown, that’s really important to me. So I feel confident that we’re going to find somebody that’s going to hold those qualities.”

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