Janis Joplin was considered one of the best blues singers on the 60s’, and she could have made an even bigger impact on the music business if she hadn’t passed away in 1970 at the age of 27 due to a drug overdose. Now director Sean Durkin is making a biopic about her, and he’s got Michelle Williams in his sites to star.
Durkin is best known for writing/directing the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene that starred Elizabeth Olsen. His film Janis has just been announced, and is set to focus on the last six months of Joplin’s life. Peter Newman is set to produce the film, and he’s long held the rights to a large amount of Joplin’s catalog, including written materials that are said to be the basis of the film.
Williams has mainly been taking on smaller roles in the last few years, including the soon to be released Manchester by the Sea, a film which she is predicted to get an Oscar nomination for. She was also recently nominated for a Tony award for her work in the play Blackbird. Williams just filming Wonderstruck, which is due out next year, and will start filming The Greatest Showman, a film about P.T. Barnum of the Barnum Bailey circus, soon.
While reps for Williams have yet to comment on the possibility of the role, the normally blonde star would have to dye her hair to play the part.
