Julia Garner gives blunt Madonna biopic update: ‘Every hour it changes’
Julia Garner could still be playing Madonna in a biopic. (GC Images)
Julia Garner has said the long-delayed Madonna biopic’s status changes “every hour”, adding that whether it happens is “not up to” her.
Speaking in a CBS Sunday Morning interview that aired on 8 November, the 32-year-old actor was asked where the project stands now. Garner, who has been attached to play Madonna, replied: “I don’t know. Every hour it changes, in a way.”
She also stressed she is not the one making decisions about the film’s future. “It’s not up to me. I would love for the movie to get made, obviously. But I also feel whatever happens, like, I made a great friend,” she said.
Garner added: “I love Madonna. I think she’s incredible.”
What did Julia Garner say about Madonna and the audition process?
Garner spoke warmly about working with the pop icon, saying: “She works. She taught me properly how to work.”
She also described the demands of the audition process, saying it involved singing, dancing and acting “as her”. Garner then admitted: “I wasn’t a trained dancer.”
Garner is an Emmy-winning American actor best known for playing Ruth Langmore in Netflix’s Ozark. She also starred in Inventing Anna as Anna Delvey, and has appeared in films including The Assistant and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
What’s happened to the Madonna biopic so far?
The Madonna biopic was first announced in 2020, with Garner attached to play the singer in 2022. Universal Pictures later cancelled the project in 2023, leaving it in limbo.
When the Universal film was shelved in January 2023, it followed a punishing casting process, with 11-hour audition days and “bootcamp” training for a list of big-name contenders before Garner emerged as the favourite and landed the role.
Garner previously sounded more optimistic about the project. In September 2025, she said the Madonna biopic was “supposed to still happen”, recalling that she approached the audition by asking herself: “What would Madonna do?”
However, Madonna herself said in June that the biopic collapsed after a “falling out” over budget, with reports at the time suggesting it was being reworked as a Netflix series with Shawn Levy.
