Amanda Seyfried spent years attached to a Joni Mitchell project that never happened, but she still went as far as learning the entirety of Blue. For publishers, songwriters, and rights holders, the detail matters because it shows how deeply a film project can drive music performance, catalog attention, and long-tail interest even before a movie is ever made.
Seyfried prepared for a Mitchell biopic that was later shelved
Seyfried revealed that she had been attached for years to portray Mitchell in a film about the singer and her manager Elliot Roberts. She said she met Mitchell at her home, where Mitchell told stories and played Blue. Seyfried also learned to play the dulcimer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The actress said the project centered on Mitchell and Roberts, but it was shelved after Roberts died. She told GQ that she met Roberts before his death.
Blue became the mountain she climbed in lockdown
Seyfried said she learned the whole album while in lockdown, and the day she finished the last song, “[The Last Time I Saw] Richard,” she wept. She said she felt like “a bona fide musician” and described the album as “a fucking mountain.”
She also recalled Mitchell’s reaction after they listened to Blue together. Mitchell called the record “sparse,” and Seyfried responded by saying, “It’s perfect!”
Another Mitchell film moved ahead without her project
The film Seyfried had been involved in never got off the ground, and Cameron Crowe’s later-announced Mitchell film is separate from it. Seyfried said people had pushed for Crowe to cast her, and said she had heard that his version focuses on Mitchell when she is younger and then older.
Casting for Crowe’s film has not been officially confirmed, though Meryl Streep has been reported to be in talks to play an older version of Mitchell. The speculation was later said to have been confirmed by record executive Clive Davis. Anya Taylor-Joy has also been linked to the project.
Watch next: whether Crowe’s film finalizes its casting, and whether Seyfried’s name continues to follow the project as the Mitchell biopic conversation develops.
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