Legendary songwriter and musician Linda Perry, who’s working with actress Shailene Woodley to bring Janis Joplin’s life story to the big screen, is singing the star’s praises in an exclusive statement to Entertainment Weekly regarding the biopic’s plot details.
After Woodley revealed Wednesday on Live With Kelly and Mark that she was working with Perry — who was once rumored to play Joplin in a previously announced biopic — on preparing for the project, Perry tells EW through a representative that she’s excited to watch the 32-year-old bring the rock icon’s story to viewers.
“I’ve been waiting decades for this movie to be made. There are no words to convey how honored I am to be included in what I believe to be a raw and honest look into Janis Joplin’s last days,” Perry, 59, explains in the statement, announcing that the film will chronicle Joplin’s final days before her death from a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 27.
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Perry continues: “Shailene Woodley’s emotional commitment and dedication to Janis is inspiring. I believe her! Shailene lives for the art and I can’t think of a better person to portray such a powerful, emotional, and complex artist.”
Woodley, who first announced in early September that she would produce and star in the untitled biopic film, said on Live that she discovered she could really sing during preparation for the movie, for which she collaborated with Perry.
“I’m not like a trained singer, but I feel and I can sing in my shower. It turns out I can also sing outside of the shower, which I didn’t really know until I started working on the Janis project, and working with Linda Perry, who’s an amazing music producer and musician herself,” Woodley said on the show. “She’s really encouraged me and helped me find my center and my own voice, which is incredible.”
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EW has reached out to representatives for Woodley for additional comment.
Perry was among many who were, at one time, speculated to star in movies about Joplin, with pop singer-songwriter Pink also rumored to play Joplin at one point.
Prior to Joplin’s death, she rose to prominence as a notable rock singer whose artistry defined a specific era in American pop culture, with her posthumous solo album, Pearl, eventually rocketing to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for over two months.
A release date and further casting details for Woodley’s Joplin biopic have yet to be announced.
