Julia Garner is shedding light on her journey to audition for the long-anticipated Madonna biopic. During a recent episode of the 'SmartLess' podcast, hosts Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman inquired about the status of the Universal biopic that had been put on hold, prompting Garner, 31, to respond, "Yes, it's still meant to happen."
When asked how she secured the role of the Queen of Pop, Garner, an avid fan of Madonna's who grew up listening to her hits like "Vogue," revealed, "It all just came together." She elaborated on her audition process, sharing, "I heard they were working on a movie about her, so I went for the audition. I wanted to see if I could pull it off, especially since I wasn't a trained dancer. I had to learn how to dance, perform in front of her, and convince her that I could both dance and sing – alongside her!"
Despite her nerves, Garner revealed that she channeled Madonna's spirit, thinking to herself, "'OK, what would Madonna do?' She would convince everyone that she deserved to be in that room, and that's exactly what I did. I adopted an attitude of, 'You can take it or leave it, but if you choose to leave it, that's on you.'"
The exact status of the Madonna biopic, which she was set to direct but was shelved by Universal Pictures in 2023, remains uncertain. However, following the conclusion of Madonna's massive Celebration Tour, she shared on Instagram in 2024 that she was back to working on the script.
In a separate venture, it was announced earlier this year that the "Material Girl" singer had partnered with producer and director Shawn Levy for a limited series project at Netflix. The project is still in its early stages of development.
After confirming on 'SmartLess' that the movie was indeed still in the works, Garner added, "But I also believe that greatness often takes time to achieve."
