If you LOVE the LEGENDARY Joni Mitchell as I do, you'll love her MORE after reading THIS.

[Miles Archer]

Joni Mitchell Reveals Why She Nixed Taylor Swift-Starring Biopic

"I squelched that," Mitchell says. "I said to the producer, 'All you've got is a girl with high cheekbones'"



By Daniel Kreps | November 25, 2014

In April 2012, it was reported that Taylor Swift was in talks to portray folk legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joni Mitchell in the big-screen adaptation of Girls Like Us, a book that focused on the impact of Mitchell, Carol King and Carly Simon. As recently as October 2012, Swift admitted that she was still eager to play Mitchell, but the role hadn't been confirmed yet. Two years later, we finally know why the film wasn't officially greenlit: Mitchell prevented the biopic from being made.

"I squelched that," Mitchell told The Sunday Times of the nixed biopic (via NME). "I said to the producer, 'All you've got is a girl with high cheekbones.' It's just a lot of gossip, you don't have the great scenes." Mitchell also said of the source material, written by Sheila Weller, "There's a lot of nonsense about me in books… assumptions, assumptions, assumptions."

"That's actually not confirmed," Swift said in October 2012 when asked if she would play Mitchell. "I wish I could say it's confirmed! But the thing about movies that I've learned is – I've been reading scripts for five years, and you just don't know what ones are going to get greenlit and which ones aren't, so I can't talk about it unless it's the real thing."

The Newsroom actress Alison Pill was also in talks to play Carole King in Girls Like Us before Mitchell had the film blocked. John Sayles was hired as screenwriter with Kate Jacobs directing the movie. Girls Like Us would have been the first dramatic turn for Swift, who made her big screen debut in the 2010 ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day. The 1989 singer finally tackled drama when she appeared in the 2012 adaptation of the young adult classic The Giver.

[IcyPeas]

1. Please NO

Joni is so unique. She has soul in her music. She has depth in her music and lyrics. Her voice is incredible. She's a genius.

Taylor Swift? No.

I heard they are making a movie about Janis Joplin too.

[begin_within]

2. That makes me dislike Joni

Though I haved loved dozens of her great songs and her once-beautiful voice for many years, she has always ruined it for me with her insufferable, haughty, imperious attitude. The female equivalent of Neil Young. Who the hell does the think she is dictating who plays her in a movie. It is absolutely NONE of her business who plays her. Period. I don't like Taylor Swift anyway, but the point is Joni simply needs to shut up and mind her own business. It's not her project. She needs to go back and try to come up with at least one more good song (which hasn't happened for 20 years) instead of spending her time trying to to be Norma Desmond.

[cliffordu]

3. if I had collaborated with

Charles Mingus on what was IIRC his last album at HIS request, written 'The hissing of summer lawns', 'blue' and a couple dozen amazing, original, inventive albums....'Herija...' I'd want a say in my biopic, too. She succeeded wildly in a male dominated misogynistic industry and did it on HER terms. Whatshername the singer/songwriter is too weak to portray any of it. The vast majority of the 'singers' today pale in any realistic comparison.

Oh, yeah. I hated neil young in '73, and have absolutely no use for him now.

[KT2000]

4. I would think she should have a say

in who plays her. She is absolutely unique. She had to fight being put into the "chick singer" category for most of her career. Hollywood would see Taylor Swift as a ticket seller but she would miss the mark as the artist that Joni Mitchell really is. She did not write bubblegum songs or turn herself into a half naked sex symbol to sell albums. She should not have to see herself portrayed by Hollywood marketing strategists.

Yes - she is tough and wants to preserve the accuracy of her life story. Good for her.

Hey - how about Beiber to play Bob Dylan in a movie!!!

[sendero]

7. If you read the interview..

... you'd understand it was not Swift that was the problem, it was the book or script.

She has every right to try to squelch a bullshit inaccurate story.

Oh, and her first couple of albums have more artistic merit than Swift's entire output.

[tanyev]

5. OMG, people have been sending Taylor Swift scripts for five years???

That hadn't even occurred to me as something that could possibly happen.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

6. I think Joni should consider the following facts

1) A biopic will eventually get made
2) If she blocks it now, producers will simply wait until she dies
3) Her best shot of ensuring that her side of the story gets told is to provide input to the screenplay.

Taylor Swift would probably do a decent job playing Joni, and the film brings her music to a new generation.

[kwassa]

8. Most biopics fail anyways, for a very specific reason ....

These people are famous for their complete uniqueness. No matter how good the actor or actress, they can't become that unique person. I've yet to see a music biopic that the actor came anywhere close to becoming the singer.

Documentaries are much better for showing the lives of famous musicians.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

9. "8 Mile" worked because Eminem starred as himself

..granted, a fictionalized version of himself.

Jamie Foxx was brilliant in "Ray."

By the by, however, you are correct.