Skip to main content

Margot Robbie revealed she would love to play classic rock singers Stevie Nicks or Janis Joplin in a movie. Here’s what the actor said about the two rock stars, and who else has been considered to play Nicks and Joplin. 

Margot Robbie smiles and poses at an event.
Margot Robbie | Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Margot Robbie said she would like to play Stevie Nicks or Janice Joplin in a biopic

While promoting her 2022 film Babylon, Margot Robbie revealed which musician she would most like to play in a movie. 

The actor, known for roles in films like I, Tonya and The Wolf of Wall Street, and her portrayal of the DC Comics character Harley Quinn in three movies, knew right away which rock stars she would like to play.

“Stevie Nicks would be fun,” she told NME. “I think everyone has been trying to do a Janis Joplin [movie] for a long time.”

“I’m not musically gifted, I don’t think I should do any of this,” Robbie quickly added, turning to her Babylon co-star, Diego Calva. “But you can, you’re very artistic and can do it.”

“Can you imagine a biopic of Frank Zappa?” Calva responded. “I don’t know if I’m the guy but that would be a cool movie.”

Lindsay Lohan has also said she would love to play Stevie Nicks in a movie about the Fleetwood Mac singer’s life

Margot Robbie isn’t the first actor to say she would like to play Stevie Nicks in a film. Lindsay Lohan also reportedly said she’d love to portray the Fleetwood Mac singer in a biopic. She even recorded a cover of Nicks’ song “Edge of Seventeen” and posted videos of herself singing the song live online. 

But Nicks shot down Lohan’s bid for the role, saying the Mean Girls star would have to “clean up” before she could play her. 

In an interview with CNN, the “Gypsy” singer was asked what she thought about Lohan portraying her. “She’s never going to,” Nicks said (via HuffPost). “That’s never going to happen unless she cleans up her life and becomes the great actress I feel she can be. Everybody thinks I hate her, and it’s not that at all.”

Nicks, who has been open about her own battle with cocaine and prescription drugs, was even more direct in a 2009 interview with the New York Times when asked about Lohan getting the part.

“Over my dead body,” Nicks said (via HuffPost). “She needs to stop doing drugs and get a grip. Then maybe we’ll talk.”

She has also said Reese Witherspoon is “too old” to play her. “I’ve already told [Reese] she’s almost too old,” Nicks told Entertainment Tonight Canada (per Rolling Stone). But Nicks did let the Legally Blonde star name the song “Cheaper Than Free” from her 2011 album In Your Dreams.

Related

Stevie Nicks Said That Being Yelled Off Stage By Janis Joplin Was ‘One of the Greatest Honors of [Her] Life’

Courtney Love said she was offered the role of Janis Joplin

Margot Robbie is also not the only actor who wants to play Janis Joplin. Singer Courtney Love told HuffPost in 2013 that she was offered the role.

“I was offered to play Janis Joplin,” she said. “I’m a little prettier than Janis Joplin so it’s always like that. Whatever.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, several high-profile actors have been considered for the role, including Amy Adams, Zooey Deschanel, and Renée Zellweger. Reese Witherspoon must be a classic rock fan, because besides wanting to play Stevie Nicks, she was also in talks with Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke for the part.