Selena Gomez to play Linda Ronstadt in new biopic

Selena Gomez is reportedly set to portray veteran musician Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic.

According to reports from Variety and Rolling Stone, Gomez has been confirmed for the role, though a director has yet to be attached to the project. The confirmation comes after Selena Gomez teased the project by posting a picture of Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir, ‘Simple Dreams’, onto social media.

Per Variety, the currently untitled biopic is now in pre-production, with Ronstadt’s manager John Boylan, and James Keach co-producing the project. Additional casting details and a release date have not yet been announced.

Both Selena Gomez and Linda Ronstadt are of Mexican descent. Ronstadt has enjoyed a lengthy and successful career spanning five decades, including 11 Grammy wins, and has been received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Recording Academy and the Latin Recording Academy.

Most recently, Ronstadt’s breakthrough hit ‘Long Long Time’ enjoyed a boost in streaming numbers after it was used to soundtrack the critically acclaimed third episode of HBO’s The Last Of Us.

In 2011, Ronstadt announced her retirement from music, and would later reveal that she is no longer able to sing due to her progressive supranuclear palsy, which was originally mistaken for Parkinson’s.

Earlier this year, Selena Gomez shared that she is considering quitting music to return to acting full-time. Gomez explained: “I started having a lot of fun with music and then touring was really fun. But I was doing my TV show at the same time [Wizards Of Waverly Place] and I just found it really fun so I just kept going but the older I get, the more…I would like to find something to just settle on” (via Deadline).

“I wanted to be an actress, I never really intended on being a singer full-time but apparently that hobby turned into something else,” Gomez said. “I don’t think I’m the best singer but I do know how to tell stories and I love being able to make songs.”