Stage actress wins role of a lifetime: Janis Joplin!

The life story of rock icon Janis Joplin is heading to the big screen. Producers have tapped a Broadway actress to play the singer in a feature film. Introducing the new Janis: Nina Arianda.

After years of development, casting rumors and legal red tape, the Janis Joplin biopic is finally happening. So who’s going to play the music legend? Stage actress and Tony-winner Nina Arianda will fill the singer’s shoes.

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According to Deadline, Arianda will make her big-screen debut in the aptly titled, Joplin. Prior to her casting, a who’s-who of actors and professional singers were attached to the role. Most notably Oscar-winner Renee Zellweger, Amy Adams, New Girl Zooey Deschanel and Pink.

Arianda is best known for her performance in the play Venus in Fur, which scored her a Tony earlier this summer. In Joplin, she’ll join forces with director Sean Durkin, who previously made his feature debut with Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Producer Peter Newman and his partners have acquired the rights to Joplin’s most famous songs, which Arianda will belt out on screen. He believes the singer-actress has the chops to pull off the high-strung tunes.

“I’ve never in my life seen an actress walk on a stage and convey the duality of vulnerability with overheated sexuality, which is what Janis was all about,” revealed Newman.

Joplin will be based on a collection of published letters from the singer called Love, Janis, as well as the book Piece Of My Heart. There are also countless interviews and first hand accounts that the producers will use.

Joplin begins production next year and will be shot for under $20 million.

What do you think of Arianda as Joplin? Can she pull it off?

Photo credit: Joseph Marzullo /WENN