Pop Star "Pink" To Play Janis Joplin in Biopic

Cinematic Happenings Under Development (CHUD) ^ | April 2, 2004 | Devin Farachi

[Long Cut]

4.2.04 By Devin Faraci Contributing Sources: Variety,

Oh, come on now. Look, I’m not one of those people who endlessly bemoans the current state of pop culture (guess what, it’s ALWAYS sucked, you just think sh** was better thirty or forty years ago because all the garbage got left behind and you only know about the quality stuff), and I’m definitely not one of those people who gets up in arms when singers or rappers try acting. Actually, I think William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy alone proved that the real danger to our society is when actors cross over to the recording studio.

Still, the news that Pink will be playing Janis Joplin in a biopic filming this summer in The Gospel According to Janis has really gotten on my nerves. And I’m not that big a fan of Joplin. And I don’t think Pink is all that awful a celebrity. I just don’t think that she has the charisma needed to pull off the part.

She does have the pipes, apparently. Pink has been so successful at aping Joplin’s vocals that she’ll be singing all the songs in the film. The movie will be directed by Penelope Spheeris, who would have been a great choice back in the 80s when she made The Decline of Western Civilization, but now her resume is filled with crap like The Beverly Hillbillies.

There’s a competing Janis biopic, Piece of My Heart, which is being developed for the deplorable squinty eyed beast Renee Zellwegger. That film appears to be getting trumped by this independent production. Whether this Spheeris film is the one that Melissa Etheridge was looking to star in is something I just don’t know, so lay off, will ya?

[Long Cut]

No sweat. It's just a light discussion thread, anyways.

[NYCVirago]

It was almost Melissa Etheridge, until her gal-pal (who was supposed to direct the flick) figured out that she couldn't act. They would have turned it into a Femi-Lesbo fest.

I think Melissa could have done the singing, but she's not ugly enough for the part (and now she's way too old). Pink, on the other hand, is definitely ugly enough to play Janis, but I don't think she's a good enough singer.

[Long Cut]

Looks don't really have a whole lot to do with who plays a part, if the acting skills are there. Makeup artists are just that.

Charlize Theron looks NOTHING like Aileen Woronous, but she won an academy award for playing her in "Monster". Her acting ability, plus some makeup, supplied the resemblence.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Sorry, I didn't want to give you the impression that I was attacking you for posting. I was simply noting that I can't understand the appeal of either to the general public.

[NYCVirago]

Looks don't really have a whole lot to do with who plays a part, if the acting skills are there. Makeup artists are just that. Charlize Theron looks NOTHING like Aileen Woronous, but she won an academy award for playing her in "Monster". Her acting ability, plus some makeup, supplied the resemblence.

And it didn't hurt that the movie had all the PC things in it -- lesbianism, commentary on the death penalty, prostitution, woman-as-victim. Any of those things alone are usually good for an Oscar; put them all together, combined with Hollywood's idea of real acting (gaining weight and looking unattractive in a role), and it was a landslide!

Anyhow, getting back to your original point, acting is much about suspending disbelief -- you need to see that person as the character, not as some famous person pretending to be that character. Much of the time, when you have an actress pretending to be unattractive, it just seems like an affectation (like Gywneth Paltrow or Julia Roberts in a fatsuit.) And I think the hardest roles to pull off are somebody famous playing somebody famous -- did anybody buy James Brolin as Ronald Reagan? No matter how much makeup he had on him, he didn't look like Ronald Reagan, and you couldn't help but think while watching him that he's married to the left-wing Barbra Streisand. Will Smith couldn't pull off Ali, not even with Hollywood's best makeup artists.

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Goopd points, especially about the PC crap. Only Hollywood would give awards out for movies glorifying lesbian serial killers. God, that looks funny just written that way!

Seriously, though, I have seen actors do a great job of vanishing into their roles so you don't notice them, you see only the character.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy pops to mind, especially Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Also, both Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (both to my utter surprise) were outstanding in Interview with the Vampire. Pitt was also good in the recent movie Snatch.

[BunnySlippers]

Janis was an original.

[BunnySlippers]

If fact, Janis would puke on Pink.

[Long Cut]

Oh, no offense taken. I guess the appeal that Joplin had was her ability to put a great deal of heart and soul into her music. She really did make you think that she'd lived every song. She was a perfect woman to sing the Blues; she'd had a hard, sad life.

As for Pink, well, her songs are fun, catchy tunes with a little rebellion in them. Nothing overly artistic, but fun to listen to on a Summer afternoon in the car.

[Uncle Meat]

Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, etc

Speaking of Jim Morrison,I wonder if they'll show in the movie where he grabbed her [Janis]by the head and shoved her face into his crotch at a party they were at,and she came after him with a pistol or something.That'd been a sight to see.

[Long Cut]

Well, they didn't show it in the movie about HIM.

Not that they needed to. There was plenty of debauchery to go around. Seemed like NOBODY could out-party 'ol Crazy Jim the Lizard King.

[Hildy]

This movie has been in development for years. Why not Pink?

[Uncle Meat]

I read that in some book.Nobody Gets Out Of Here Alive I think it was.

[whereasandsoforth]

Janis was a door-opener. Most people remember her for her raw sound on so many of her songs, forgetting that she could sing like a sweet little bird too. I still get a chill listening to "Little Girl Blue".

Janis came along at the right time in the right place. She was the true "Candle In The Wind".

[GreenHornet]

Janis came along at the right time in the right place. She was the true "Candle In The Wind".

If only she hadn't been so self-destructive. Who knows what might have been?

[tet68]

Ya'll, it's better this way.
If she'd lived, she would have just sullied it all by
dying hugging a comode or teaming with Slim Whitman on
those "not available in stores" commercials.

She still tears me up.

[NYC GOP Chick]

I think Melissa could have done the singing, but she's not ugly enough for the part (and now she's way too old). Pink, on the other hand, is definitely ugly enough to play Janis, but I don't think she's a good enough singer.

Actually, Pink *can* sing, but can she act?

[NYC GOP Chick]

Janis was a door-opener. Most people remember her for her raw sound on so many of her songs, forgetting that she could sing like a sweet little bird too. I still get a chill listening to "Little Girl Blue".

The one that still gives me chills is the live version of "Piece of My Heart." I *think* it's from Woodstock, but I'm not 100% sure. What a pity she self-destructed.

[NYCVirago]

Actually, Pink *can* sing, but can she act?

I don't think she sings very well at all. But compared to Britney, of course, she's a regular Maria Callas!

[NYCVirago]

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy pops to mind, especially Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Also, both Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (both to my utter surprise) were outstanding in Interview with the Vampire. Pitt was also good in the recent movie Snatch.

I haven't seen those films, so I can't comment. But I've seen Ian McKellen in other things, and he's stolen every movie I've ever seen him in.