A singer-songwriter who also plays multiple instruments, Joni Mitchell was an instrumental figure on the 1960s folk scene. Joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, the Canadian musician recently picked up the 11th Grammy Award of her career during last week’s ceremony. Influencing everyone from Taylor Swift to Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt, Mitchell’s life is getting the biopic treatment with an upcoming film directed by Cameron Crowe. And now we know who will play the “Both Sides Now” legend.
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Cameron Crowe Taps Meryl Streep For Joni Mitchell Biopic
According to Rolling Stone, Grammy-winning record executive Clive Davis confirmed the casting of Meryl Streep in a forthcoming Joni Mitchell biopic during his annual pre-Grammy bash last week.
No idea if the script’s good, but Meryl Streep just turns anything into gold!
— Daniel D. Dittmar (@dddittmar) February 7, 2026
Rumors first circulated in July 2024 that Streep would portray an older version of the Kennedy Center honoree. Anya Taylor-Joy, who gained acclaim for her starring role in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, will reportedly play Mitchell in her prime during the 1960s and ’70s. However, Taylor-Joy’s casting has not been officially confirmed.
Making her feature film debut in 1977’s Julia, Meryl Streep is a 21-time Academy Award nominee with three wins. Her first came in 1979 as Best Supporting Actress in Kramer vs. Kramer, followed by two Best Actress wins for Sophie’s Choice (1982) and as Margaret Thatcher in 2011’s The Iron Lady.
Last appearing in 2021’s Don’t Look Up, Streep, 76, also boasts eight Golden Globe Awards and four Emmys.
[RELATED: Musician and Muse: 3 Songs That Other Musicians Wrote About Joni Mitchell]
What We Know About the Biopic
Making his screenwriting debut with 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cameron Crowe went on to direct Say Anything… (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), and 2000’s Almost Famous.
While he hasn’t directed a film since 2015’s Aloha, Crowe revealed in an October 2025 interview on The Late Show that he and Joni Mitchell have been collaborating on the forthcoming biopic for about four years.
“We have regular meetings where I can ask her anything and she speaks with her heart about all kinds of stuff,” Crowe, 68, said. “It’s a movie that will be not from a distance … This is from her perspective, her life, looking out.”
He added, “She’s kept all of her costumes, all of her clothes, all of her instruments. She’s even still the landlady of her famous house in Laurel Canyon. So this is a really personal, wonderful look at her life and music.”
Featured image by Paul Natkin/WireImage
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