Who Will Play Britney Spears? Odds on the Lead in ‘Woman in Me’ Biopic

_{The search is on for the perfect actress to play Britney Spears in her upcoming biopic, 'The Woman In Me.' (Image: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy)}

A Britney Spears movie is in the works, but director Jon M. Chu has made it quite clear nobody is in talks to play the pop princess just yet.

With Wicked making $432 million in domestic box office, Chu confirmed in January that he is working on a Britney film, telling Entertainment Tonight: "It’s very early [in the production process] right now. She will be very involved. I haven’t really started anything fully yet, but she will be very involved.

"I have ideas and things, but it’s very, very early."

Fast forward a couple of months and the movie, which is expected to be a big-screen adaptation of the Toxic hitmaker's best-selling memoir The Woman In Me, has seen the likes of Millie Bobby Brown, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chu's Wicked star Ariana Grande all linked to the top role.

However, Chu has now insisted that such casting speculation is fake news. He wrote on X: "None of this is true. Sounds exciting but I have not had one conversation about casting this movie yet. We are way too early in development. Sorry."

Despite this, rumours about who might land the coveted role of Britney continue to circulate.

Millie's Dream Role 

While Chu has denied Millie, Sabrina and Ariana are in contention to play Britney currently, he didn't rule out either of the three portraying the character further down the line.

When casting does begin on the motion picture, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see Stranger Things actress Brown take on the top job – and she would love to do it, too.

Speaking in 2022, she said on The Drew Barrymore Show: "I think her story, first of all, resonates with me growing up in the public eye.

"Watching her videos, watching interviews of her when she was younger. I don’t know her but when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I could tell her story in the right way and hers only."

_{Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown is our favorite to portray Britney Spears. (Image: Image Press Agency / Alamy)}

Has Millie manifested the part?

It's a shade of odds-on, 10/11, that she portrays Britney in a Woman in Me biopic, while Sabrina is 2/1 and Ariana isn't far behind at 5/2.

Carpenter certainly has the look about her to portray Britney, and she also has the voice and the acting background.

While the Please Please Please singer is mostly a pop star nowadays, she shot to fame on the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World.

Related News

• The Best VIP Casinos & Loyalty Programs Online in March
• Odds On What Timothee Chalamet Will Do Next

What's more, Chu knows all about Grande following her role as Glinda the Good in his two Wicked movies, with the second part to come later this year. Could he weave some magic and hire her for the part?

Sydney To Star?

It's not yet known whether there will be just one actress cast to play Britney or several to portray her across various ages.

While it's expected whoever lands the role will have to do plenty of singing, the film could focus more on Britney's story, after the book told of her rise to fame, her controversial conservatorship, and her subsequent freedom.

_{Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney is another strong candidate for the role. (Image: Abaca Press / Alamy)}

One star who is known more for her acting ability than her singing talent is Sydney Sweeney, but she did make a brief appearance on Tate McRae's tune Miss Possessive.

The White Lotus star Sydney is 5/4 to land the coveted role, while Tate is a 7/2 chance.

Like Sabrina, Dove Cameron is another singer and actress who came up through the Disney Channel ranks, and Britney herself has previously praised the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star's beauty.

In 2017, Cameron wrote, on X: @britneyspears just told me i was beautiful and i immediately stared crying."

The Hairspray Live star could be crying tears of joy if she lands the role, and she's 3/1 to do so. 

Rae's Strong Britney Movie Views

Singer and social media star Addison Rae is 5/1 to take on the part – but she doesn't think anyone "deserves" to portray Britney, because she is "such an icon".

She previously told iHeartRadio's The Hit List: "I honestly don’t think anyone deserves to play her. She’s such an enigma and such an icon. I don’t even think it’s right to compare me to her at all.

"I think she really, really created something that is untouchable and so in its own lane that nobody will ever truly be able to replicate what she did for music, and even the entertainment industry."

_{Social media sensation Addison Rae believes no one can truly replicate the pop icon. (Image: Sipa US / Alamy)}

Rae believes Britney should have a huge say in the star who portrays her on the big screen.

She added: "I support anything and everything that Britney Spears ever wants to do in her life and career, and I think she’ll have the best opinion on who she thinks that should be."

Should Britney pick Rae, it's unlikely she would turn the part down, and former Disney Channel star Olivia Holt would also be up for the role.

Responding to fan speculation that she could be in contention to play Circus singer, she recently told Variety: "I would be so honoured to play Britney.

"I’m just so grateful to be in the running and around so many names and talents who are in the running for it. Just the idea that I am on people’s minds to play something as iconic as this, would be a dream."

Olivia is 11/2 to land the role, while Kiernan Shipka is an 8/1 outsider. The Mad Men star once took part in a Britney skit – but she was only six years old at the time.

In the Jimmy Kimmel Live sketch, she portrayed Elissa Webber, a student in the Gimme More hitmaker's dance class who wasn't hugely influenced by the pop star.

However, it's unlikely to harm Shipka's chances of portraying Spears, given she was so young at the time.