Natalie Portman and Selena Gomez top the list to play Britney Spears in her biopic but fans aren’t convinced — ‘yikes!’

In case you missed it, the pop world is buzzing over Britney Spears’ upcoming biopic, based on her memoir The Woman in Me. Director Jon M. Chu (fresh off his major success with Wicked (2024), which racked up 10 Academy Award nominations) is at the helm, and he’s promised that Britney herself will play a huge role in bringing this story to life. In an interview at the Golden Globes on January 6, Jon revealed that Britney will be “very involved” in the project, which makes sense considering the deeply personal nature of her memoir. “I’ve been a fan since I was young… she was one of 12 acts at the Shrine Auditorium,” Jon said, recalling his early memories of the pop princess. He’s eager to do her story justice, but he’s keeping things under wraps for now, saying they’re still in the early stages. He also mentioned a few things about the biopic at the 2025 National Board of Review Gala in NYC, as you can see in the video below.

But here’s where it gets extra juicy: while the script is still in the works and we don’t have a lot of details, it seems that Britney is already weighing in on who should play her. According to insiders who spoke to Life and Style magazine, Britney is “very involved” in picking the perfect actress for the role. And it looks like two A-list stars are at the top of her wishlist: Natalie Portman and Selena Gomez. Britney’s love for Natalie Portman goes way back. The pop icon reportedly adores the actos and thinks she’s got the chops to truly embody her. According to the insider, “Britney adores Natalie Portman and thinks she’s such an incredible actress, she’d love to see her cast and thinks with the right make-up artist she could easily be transformed. The same goes for Selena Gomez. She’s someone Britney loves as a person and as an artist, she thinks she’s mighty talented and knows she’d also have her own history as a child star to draw on, which would make things easier.”

So, who’s going to land the role? It’s still up in the air, but of course, fans have a lot to say about these unconventional picks — especially since neither actress really has a look or backstory that mirrors the popstar’s. “I don’t buy it tbh lmao. It’s like someone just made this up by using two of the only actresses Britney has been known to publicly admire lmao. Did they also say she wants Brad Pitt to play Justin lmao?” one fan joked. Another simply said, “Yikes…” While one more fan commented, “If something does happen with this, I hope someone totally unknown plays her—someone who’s gifted in dancing/gymnastics and gives off that naive but firecracker energy. To me, neither Selena nor Natalie give off those vibes.” And yet another fan shared, “I still think they should hire an unknown actress who looks more like Britney than any single actress in Hollywood.” Looks like the debate is just getting started!

But no matter who gets picked, we’re sat for the Britney biopic and honestly, it couldn’t come soon enough!