When Selena Gomez entered the scene as a Disney Channel star as a teen, she not only became known as an actress, but a chart-topping singer as well. Over 15 years later, Gomez has certainly made a name for herself on both fronts, but for the first time in a while, she’ll really get a chance to flex both muscles at once with an exciting movie role. It’s just been confirmed that Gomez will play Linda Ronstadt in a biopic, and I can’t wait!
After Selena Gomez took to her Instagram to share a photo of herself reading Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir Simple Dreams, Rolling Stone confirmed the Only Murders in the Building star is going to play the singer in an upcoming movie! I’m not only excited to see Gomez challenge herself by playing a real person, but I’m also really hyped to know her next big project involves music and singing in a big way.
Selena Gomez has been rumored to be playing Linda Ronstadt since summer 2023. According to that prior report, James Keach, the producer behind the documentary about the ‘70s superstar, The Sound of My Voice, had formulated a script for a feature film and was talking to Gomez about taking on the Ronstadt role. At that time, Hollywood was in the middle of the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike, but now that the dust has cleared, the movie is reportedly in pre-production, and clearly Gomez is deep into her research on Ronstadt.
Along with Keach producing the movie, Linda Ronstadt’s manager of many years, John Boylan, is behind the biopic. Ronstadt herself has progressive supranuclear palsy, which has left her without the ability to sing anymore. The singer was back in the headlines in 2023 when her song “Long Long Time” was featured in The Last Of Us. The song was featured in the standout episode (also titled “Long Long Time”) and gave the song a huge streaming boost when the song received a 4900 percent increase in U.S. streams on the night of the episode’s premiere.
Selena Gomez has been killing it lately on Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short, which is set to continue with an upcoming fourth season that will be among new Hulu releases either this year or 2025. Gomez was just among 2024 Golden Globe nominees for her performance in Only Murders, but The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri took home the statuette.
While Gomez has been really great on the Hulu show, it’s truly been a long time since she was the lead in her own live-action and high-profile movie. Truly, it’s been over a decade since she had top billing on a major movie! I’m so excited to see what she brings to her portrayal of Linda Ronstadt. Most of all, I cannot wait to see her sing in the upcoming movie!