To be directed by Sean Durkin, the biopic titled 'Joplin' will follow the late rocker's final six months with flashbacks to her early career.
- Jul 11, 2012
AceShowbiz - Tony Award winner Nina Arianda has received an honor to portray rock icon Janis Joplin in a biopic. It was Deadline which first shared the news that Arianda would make her big screen debut as a lead actress by playing the 1960s rocker, who died due to heroin overdose at age 27 in 1970, in an indie movie called "Joplin".
"Joplin" would follow the final six months of the late singer's life with flashbacks to her early career. Producer Peter Newman revealed that Arianda, who is best known for her performance in Broadway play "Born Yesterday", will show off her vocal chops to do justice to Joplin's signature gritty voice. There are around 21 of Joplin's songs that would be featured in the biopic.
Arianda is set to team up with director Sean Durkin, who helmed well-reviewed indie drama "Martha Marcy May Marlene". Newman said that the movie is planned to be made with a budget of less than $20 million and is expected to start filming in early 2013.
Manhattan-born Arianda has defeated some other artists who were previously considered to play Joplin. They included singer Pink and actress Zooey Deschanel. Arianda stole the producers' attention thanks to her acclaimed Broadway performances. Filmmaker Mike Nichols even compared her to Judy Holliday and Meryl Streep by saying that "they were a tremendous shock the first time they were seen in a play."
Arianda has previously appeared as supporting characters in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" and Brett Ratner's "Tower Heist".
