Yes, Julia Garner is still on to play Madonna in an upcoming biopic on the superstar, the existence of which has long been called into question due to a series of delays.
The Weapons actress confirmed as much in an on-camera interview with W Magazine posted Wednesday (Sept. 3). When asked whether she’d for sure be starring as the Queen of Pop, Garner replied enthusiastically, “Yeah!”
“I can’t say too much about it, but yes,” she continued. “It’s a work in progress.”
Garner also shared some of her favorite Madonna songs. “Oh my god, I have so many,” she said, rattling off a list. “I love ‘Borderline,’ that’s probably my favorite … I love all of Madonna basically is what I’m trying to say. ”
She added, “I just love Madonna’s voice on ‘Papa Don’t Preach.’ There’s a lot of emotions in that song.”
The interview comes more than three years after Garner was first reportedly cast to play Madge in the biopic in mid-2022. By January 2023, reports emerged that the project had been scrapped, but the following year, Madonna teased on social media that it was back on.
Shortly before confirming as much to W, Garner said on a July episode of Will Arnett and Jason Bateman’s Smartless podcast that the film was indeed “still brewing” and “supposed to still happen.”
“I kind of just wanted to see if I could do it,” she added at the time of the audition process. “Because I wasn’t a trained dancer and I had to learn how to dance and then dance in front of her and convince her that I can dance, basically, and sing. And sing with her!”
Watch Garner’s W interview below.