Let's hope Madonna's Netflix series includes her infamous celeb feuds
After more than 40 years in the spotlight – during which she has given countless interviews, invited cameras backstage in the doco Madonna: Truth Or Dare and shared intimacies in the glossy hardcover book Sex – it's hard to imagine Madonna has anything left to reveal in her upcoming Netflix series.
Originally planned as a biopic starring Ozark's Julia Garner, the project has pivoted to become a TV series, with Madge now reportedly in talks with Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy. Garner is still in the mix to play the young Madonna if schedules align.
To secure her role as the Material Girl, Garner beat out stiff competition from the likes of Florence Pugh, Emma Laird (Mayor Of Kingstown) and Euphoria's Alexa Demie at a gruelling audition referred to as 'Madonna bootcamp'. Even the Queen of Pop's own daughter Lourdes Leon was in the running.
Explaining why she has decided to tell her story on screen, Madonna said in a statement: 'I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being, trying to make her way in this world.'
Of all the highs and lows of Madonna's much-dissected life, one chapter that would make particularly juicy fodder in the new series is the disintegration of her friendship with actor and wellness empire founder Gwyneth Paltrow.
For a brief window in the early 2000s – when both women were married to Brits (Madonna to director Guy Ritchie and Paltrow to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin) and raising their young families in the UK – the A-list expats were the closest of friends.
The powerful pals were regularly sighted giggling together at industry events or headed to workout sessions with trainer Tracy Anderson, in their haphazard but luxe exercise gear and matching Kabbalah red string bracelets.
Until suddenly they weren't.
Before their falling out, the Goop guru gushed that Madonna was like a mentor and older sister, who had taught her the art of saying no.
But by 2010, Paltrow was moaning to British Vogue about the cavalier way Madonna treated Anderson, sniping: 'She keeps people waiting – it takes up your whole day.'
A year later, Paltrow posted on her Goop blog about an 'insufferable' friend who left her feeling 'drained, empty and belittled'. This was never confirmed to relate to Madge, but their friendship fizzled soon after.
Madonna has remained tight-lipped on the not-so-conscious uncoupling – but she also has form for relationships that burn hot and fast.
In the 1980s it was actress and comedian Sandra Bernhard who had the lead role as Madonna's closest confidante. The pair appeared regularly in the tabloids at the time, and the singer even famously crashed Bernhard's 1988 interview with David Letterman, where the duo danced and flirted with the bemused host while dressed in identical outfits.
Decades later, Madonna's high wattage celebrity having far eclipsed Bernhard's fading fame, the Roseanne star reflected that she didn't enjoy the pop diva's level of visibility, and needed space to evolve as a person.
'I guess for a while we had a real friendship, but it's hard for somebody like [Madonna],' Bernhard mused on the Hot Takes & Deep Dives podcast in 2021.
'She doesn't really want somebody around who reflects too much of who she is. Therefore, her relationships just don't last.'
While lasting love may have evaded Madge, her career success endures – thanks to her unmatchable capacity to evolve and push the envelope as an artist.
Whether she's Voguing in her iconic cone bra or outfitted in dominatrix black to kiss Britney Spears on stage, Madonna insists the aim of the game has never been reinvention.
'What I have been doing, in my opinion, is slowly revealing myself,' she said at a press conference promoting her 1998 Ray Of Light album. 'Taking off the layers and getting closer and closer to who I really am.'
Madonna: Live: A montage of Madonna memories, celebrating her most famous interviews and live acts, including 'Vogue' being performed in full Marie Antionette garb.
Unauthorised Biographies With Peter Graves: Madonna is one chapter in a four-part series of celebrity profiles.
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