Zooey Deschanel pestered producers of Loretta Lynn musical for lead
Zooey Deschanel spent months badgering the producers behind a new Broadway musical based on the life of country icon Loretta Lynn in a bid to land the lead role.
The New Girl star reveals the idea to turn the singer's 1976 autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, into a stage show hit her one day while she was in the shower, and she immediately called her manager to see if the project was already in the works.
Loretta Lynn had already set the ball rolling on the production, so
Zooey Deschanel reached out to the organisers behind the show -
only to be told a casting decision would not be made for
months.
She persevered and continued to regularly check in with the
producers - and her efforts finally paid off last spring (12).
Zooey Deschanel tells talk show host Katie Couric, "It was
fortuitous because it was being developed and I...(thought), 'Oh my
god, The Coal Miner's Daughter should be on Broadway because it's
such a good story and the music is so great.' So I called my
manager and said, 'Can you check to see if somebody's developing
this?' And somebody was, and they said, 'We don't attach actresses
this early in the game', but we kept plugging away and finally they
were talking to Loretta Lynn's camp and they said, 'Oh, Loretta
loves Zooey!'"
The actress was invited to meet Loretta Lynn before a concert in
Nashville, Tennessee last May (12), and she immediately won the
legend's approval, and the singer made the big casting announcement
onstage during her gig at the Ryman Auditorium that night.
But Zooey Deschanel is still waiting to hear when she will make her
Broadway debut: "It's in development so I don't know exactly when
it's going to happen, but I'm so excited."