Selena Gomez to Play Linda Ronstadt in Upcoming Biopic: ‘No Words to Describe My Heart for This Project’

Selena Gomez; Linda Ronstadt. PHOTO: CATHERINE POWELL/GETTY; AARON RAPOPORT/CORBIS/GETTY

Good for Selena Gomez!

The singer and actress, 31, confirmed on Instagram Stories Friday that she will play musical legend Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic.

“I have no words to describe my heart for this project … years of hoping this dream would become my reality,” she captioned a screenshot of a Deadline story announcing the news, first reported by Showbiz 411 over the summer. A second slide feature a black-and-white image of Ronstadt that the Only Murders in the Building star captioned, “Love your heart and soul for life and music.” Ronstadt, 77, reposted the story on her own account, adding pink hearts.

Music publisher Great Eastern Music, which was founded by John Boylan — Ronstadt’s manager — also reported news of Gomez’s new role earlier this month.

Selena Gomez in New York City in December 2022. CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES

The film is set to be produced by Boylan and James Keach, who produced the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and Ronstadt’s 2019 documentary The Sound of My Voice. The film’s title and additional casting have yet to be revealed. David O. Russell is set to direct.

“The long-rumored Linda Ronstadt biopic is now up-and-running. Selena Gomez is attached to play Linda,” reads the announcement on the website’s “Projects” page. “The two recently spent a few hours at Linda’s home discussing the project and getting to know each other.”

Prior to the announcement, Gomez shared an Instagram Story earlier this month that featured the cover of the “Desperado” singer’s 2013 memoir Simple Dreams, which she appeared to be reading.

The following day, Ronstadt shared Instagram Stories related to the casting in the press with the caption as well as a post on her verified Facebook page that said: “It all started with a simple dream 👀💕.”

Gomez and the “You’re No Good” performer are both of Mexican descent, and the “Single Soon” musician has noted their similarities in appearance before.

“I always used to get told that I look like her,” Gomez previously said during a 2015 appearance on On Air with Ryan Seacrest, per Billboard. “And I started listening to her music because of that.”

Ronstadt, who has earned 11 Grammys throughout her career, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and earned a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2016. She became the subject of the documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice in 2019 which was helmed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and chronicled her nearly 50-year career.

Linda Ronstadt in 1982. CLAYTON CALL/REDFERNS

Ronstadt’s music career came to a devastating halt when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. She had lost her singing voice four years earlier.

“It’s like not having a leg or an arm, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” the rock singer told PEOPLE in 2019.

Ronstadt struggled to make two albums as her voice worsened. She was even told it was “nerves,” before she was diagnosed by a neurologist.

“It felt like something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell what it was,” she said, describing the initial symptoms. “First, I thought it was my headphone mix, then I thought it was the microphone, then I thought some frequencies were just missing from my voice. It got slowly, steadily worse.”
Along with the loss of her musical instrument, her mobility declined.

“There’s nothing I can do and I just learned how to live with it,” she said.

However, Ronstadt has since discovered she has a Parkinson’s-like condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, per TODAY.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the rare condition is caused by the deterioration of brain cells that control thinking, movement and coordination, which are similar to symptoms of Parkinson’s and dementia.

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