Amanda Seyfried is starring in the upcoming Peacock show, Long Bright River. It’s an eight-part limited series that’s based on the book of the same name by Liz Moore. Amanda plays a cop named Mickey who’s searching for her missing sister while also trying to solve a series of drug-related murders. I’m on Libby’s months-long waitlist for the book. It sounds exactly up my alley.
Amanda went on The Tonight Show this week to plug Long Bright River (the clip they showed reminded me of a scene from Tess Gerritsen’s novel, “Girl Missing”) and talk about some of her future projects. However, the moment that’s gone viral was when she performed a gorgeous cover of Joni Mitchell’s “California” while playing a dulcimer. It was so lovely that commenters started suggesting that Amanda play Joni in a biopic.
Amanda Seyfried has some Joni Mitchell fans clamoring for her to play the music legend in a biopic after she performed a stunning rendition of “California” on “The Tonight Show.” Seyfried sang the song’s first verse and its chorus while strumming a dulcimer on the late night show’s March 4 episode.
“Sitting in a park in Paris, France/ Reading the news and it sure looks bad/ They won’t give peace a chance/ It was just a dream some of us had,” Seyfried sang, sounding almost like Mitchell’s vocal twin.
“California, I’m coming home,” she belted out in the chorus. The “Mamma Mia!” franchise star’s performance of the track, off Mitchell’s 1971 masterpiece “Blue,” wowed host Jimmy Fallon, who leapt to his feet afterward.
“What are you talking about? Playing the dulcimer? Are you kidding me?” Fallon shouted over the applause of his studio audience.
In the ultimate seal of approval, Mitchell’s official Instagram account reshared a video of Seyfried’s performance on Instagram. Music lovers on social media were just as knocked out, with many suggesting Seyfried play Mitchell onscreen.
“Omg. THIS is what her voice is made for. Would love to see her play a young Joni Mitchell,” one fan commented on the official “Tonight Show” Instagram.
“Bio Pic casting ….. hired,” added another.
“she is gunning for that biopic and i’m for it,” a third Instagram user said. Actor Jameela Jamil added, “Get. That. Biopic. Girl.”
Chatter about a potential Mitchell biopic began in 2023 after the entertainment site Above the Line reported that Cameron Crowe was attached to a project about the singer. Crowe, the Oscar-winning director of “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous,” confirmed the news during an October 2024 interview on the “Q with Tom Power” show from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We’ve been working on it for about two and a half years,” Crowe said. “We haven’t talked about it much, but it’s starting to come to fruition and hopefully we’ll get it out for a year from now.”
The same month, Crowe told Ultimate Classic Rock that he was “super-excited” about the film, which he said he hoped would be in theaters by Christmas 2025. Crowe added that the movie tells the story of Mitchell’s life “through her prism.”
“It’s the characters who impacted her life that you know and a lot that you don’t know,” he said. “And the music is so cinematic.”
I’ve listened to Amanda’s cover twice now and I think she sounds incredible. She really does sound a lot like Joni. Her dulcimer playing was pretty good, too! It’s also suuuuper cool that Joni’s seemingly given the seal of approval with her repost. I would’ve been beyond excited if that had happened to me. I think it’s funny that people are now calling for her to be in a biopic about Joni’s life because this is now the second time that Amanda’s singing has gone viral and sparked interest in her playing a role. Remember that TikTok video that her stylist posted of her singing “Popular” from Wicked? That caused a stir, too, with people wanting to see her version of Glinda.
Anyway, that Cameron Crowe biopic that’s mentioned in the story actually stars Meryl Streep as an older Joni. I’ve searched around, and it doesn’t look like Crowe ever announced publicly who’d be playing young Joni. I wonder… Meryl and Amanda, reunited in another musical. Speaking of, Amanda also told Jimmy that she’s down for a third Mamma Mia! movie and would love for Sabrina Carpenter to play Sophie’s daughter. That is an A+ casting idea. I would watch that in a heartbeat.
Photos credit: London Features/Avalon, Retna/Avalon, Photoshot/Avalon, IMAGO/RW/Avalon
Amanda did a nice little cover but nobody could do Joni justice. Definitely the GOAT of all singer/songwriters. I hope they go with an unknown with a phenomenal voice.
I really enjoyed that clip, didn’t realize she had that kind of talent.
I really thought Amanda came off as a Joni Mitchell lover too. Idk something about how she sang it, definitely saw reverence and appreciation for her work. Mitchell’s work is so emotional, adult and complex it would be horrific to see a gen z non-fan cast in that roll.
That was lovely! And as a dulcimerist myself, I love that she is giving our quirky little semi-obscure instrument a moment.
If Joni gave her approval, I think, she is good to go. She sounds incredible. I didn’t know she is a good singer.
I hope more people dive into Joni’s music. She is an amazing talent. The people who love TS for her songwriting will fall in love with Joni.
Unpopular opinion, but I wasn’t that impressed with Amanda’s Glinda audition–or whatever it was, I know it wasn’t exactly an audition. I think her vocals are too thin to play Glinda. Glinda needs to be a coloratura soprano with robust operatic tones. Joni is probably a much better match for Amanda because it’s less vocal-intensive and more about breathing life into the lyrics she’s singing.
WHOA! I wasn’t expecting that to be so lovely.
Only if they are going to truly include all of it including Joni’s infamous blackface escapes.