Celebrities Reveal Which Stars They Want to Play Them Onscreen in a Biopic: Side-by-Side Comparisons

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Celebrities Reveal Which Stars They Want to Play Them Onscreen in a Biopic: Side-by-Side Comparisons

Playing a legend! While many celebrities had iconic career milestones through the years, it can be an impressive feat to see such accomplishments recreated on the big screen.

Celebrities such as Dolly Parton, Justin Bieber and Hillary Clinton are among the few who already have casting ideas in mind, though no films have officially been confirmed.

“There’s a lot of parts of my life that would make [a] good [movie] —just like the little ‘Coat of Many Colors’ in my early days, and then all the little pockets,” the “Jolene” songstress told Marie Claire in December 2020. “Years and years ago, when I was going to do the Broadway musical — I never can get it to how I want it, but I’m still working on it. But I thought [Kristin Chenoweth would] be an ideal person to do that. But we’re all getting older now, so if we tell the parts, we may be able to have different Dollys. We’d probably have to have — as long as my career has been — like a little Dolly, and a middle Dolly and then the older one. And she’d still be great for that.”

While Parton raved over the Wicked OG to play the part on the Great White Way, she previously name-dropped the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson in a movie adaptation. “That depends on when I get it done,” the 9 to 5 star told Elle in October 2019 of her final pick.

Witherspoon — who previously played June Cash in the Oscar-winning Walk the Line biopic of Johnny Cash’s life — has played coy about the speculation, though is in the process of adapting Parton’s Run, Rose, Run novel.

“Dolly Parton is not only an icon to me, but a true inspiration to women and girls everywhere,” the Big Little Lies alum said in a March 2022 statement of the project. “My admiration for her grew to even greater heights when reading Run, Rose, Run, a gripping and heartbreaking book I couldn’t put down. I couldn’t feel more honored to be working alongside her and James [Patterson, Parton’s cowriter] to bring this remarkable story to the screen.”

While Witherspoon is one of Parton’s top contenders for a musical biopic, she’s not quite ready for her own story to be told on film.

“Well I don’t think all the chapters of my life have been told yet, so I don’t think I’m ready for a biopic,” the Hello Sunshine founder noted during a September 2021 interview with Fox 5 New York, revealing that her lookalike daughter, Ava Phillippe, would not play her. “She’s not an actress. She’s so happy with her life, and I am just so enormously proud of her and the incredible, compassionate young woman she’s become.”

Clinton, for her part, has a clear frontrunner in mind for the potential movie of her life. (Her husband, Bill Clinton, was already brought to life by Clive Owen in 2021’s Impeachment: American Crime Story miniseries about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Edie Falco played Hillary as a supporting character.)

“If I had a choice, it would be Meryl Streep, of course,” the former Secretary of State told The Guardian in July 2014.

Scroll below to see which celebrities could play another legend in a movie of their life:

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Kanye West and Jamie Foxx

In October 2022, West revealed that he’d like to see the Baby Driver star embody his likeness in a film about his life. “My pick is Jamie Foxx One of the greatest geniuses,” the “Homecoming” rapper wrote in a now-deleted tweet. 

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Drew Barrymore and Joey King

The Ever After star revealed in an August 2022 TikTok video that she’d like the Kissing Booth actress to tackle her history in a potential film adaptation of her life.

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Millie Bobby Brown and Halsey

"Millie would be so great. It's kind of uncanny how much we look alike. It's like, oh, no, we actually just look like sisters," the singer said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June 2022.

The Stranger Things actress, for her part, took to Instagram to say she was "sooooo down" for the biopic idea.

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Dolly Parton and Reese Witherspoon

“Reese Witherspoon is a dear friend of mine, in fact, I was with her last week and we were talking about doing some things together,” the Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings alum told the U.K.’s Lorraine in December 2014. “We were talking about my life story, and I went, 'Well people always say to me, 'Why don't you get Reese Witherspoon [to play you].’' And I always say, 'Her boobs ain't big enough! I think she's too little to rag this around! I wouldn't put that on her.' But Reese said, 'Well, there's padding, I've got enough to do it!' I said, 'Well, we're [talking] about it.’"

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Aretha Franklin and Halle Berry

While the “Respect” singer got the biopic treatment in August 2021 with Jennifer Hudson in the starring role, Franklin had another idea several years earlier.

“I would’ve liked Halle Berry to portray the older Aretha in the upcoming biopic of my life based on my memoir, Aretha: From These Roots. She was my first choice, everything’s subject to negotiation, and she shouldn’t underestimate her own talent,” she revealed during a January 2011 appearance on The Wendy Williams Show. “There are a number of other leading ladies out there that can definitely handle the role. I never expected Halle to sing. She’s an actress, not a singer. Many actors have portrayed vocalists by lip-synching to the artists’ original recordings.”

Franklin was later so impressed by Hudson’s body of work that she specifically asked her to take over the role.

“Even when it was time to film, I was still freaking out in my mind about it,” the American Idol alum told NME in September 2021. “But because she had said, ‘I want you to play me’, that gave me the courage to be able to get through it. It was like, ‘Well if you believe I can do it, I’m willing to try.’”

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Justin Bieber and Chuck Norris

The “Peaches” crooner, who wed Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) in September 2018, wished the action star could portray him per an April 2010 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

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Hillary Clinton and Meryl Streep

The former presidential candidate told the U.K.’s The Guardian in July 2014 that she wanted Streep, a fellow Yale University alum, to bring her story to the big screen.

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Niall Horan and Tom Felton

The Ireland native told Yahoo! in August 2013 that he wanted the Harry Potter star to play him in a One Direction origin film. Felton, for his part, was more than willing to tackle the part — even if it meant dying his hair to better match Horan’s.

“Of course,” Felton told MTV News in September 2013 of assuming the mantle. “What’s really sweet is the rest [of the band] said Tom Cruise, Leonardo [DiCaprio], and Niall said, ‘Tom Felton.’ … It’s very flattering and I’m a big Directioner.”

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Meghan McCain and Hilary Duff

"I want Hilary Duff to play me,” the former View cohost told the New York Daily News in June 2009. “I think she's really hot — hotter than me — but I'd still want her to play me. Really, I'd take anyone who's blond!”

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Dolly Parton and Scarlett Johansson

While Parton told Elle in 2019 that Witherspoon could play her, she also thought the Black Widow star could tackle the role.

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Louis Tomlinson and Leonardo DiCaprio

“I love Jim Carrey, but I don’t think I look very much like him,” the England native told The Sunday Life in March 2013. “I’ll say Leonardo DiCaprio because he’s a brilliant actor and someone said to me I look like him in the film Titanic, which I was very pleased about.”

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Kristin Cavallari and Cameron Diaz

After Lauren Conrad penned her fictional L.A. Candy novel in June 2009 as inspired by her Laguna Beach and The Hills roots, eager fans were hopeful a movie adaptation was in the works. But, who’d play the Cavallari-esque adversary?

“[Cameron Diaz is] who I would want to play [the character] in a movie. So if she could do that for me, that would be great,” the Uncommon James founder told the Chicago Tribune that December.