Zendaya to Star as Ronnie Spector in New Biopic

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01: GOLD STAR STUDIOS Photo of Phil SPECTOR, w/Ronnie Bennett of the Ronettes (Photo by Ray Avery/Redferns)
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(Ray Avery/Redferns)

Fresh from making history by becoming the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy for Best Actress – Drama (not to mention only the second-ever Black woman to win the award) for her work on HBO show Euphoria, Zendaya is set to take on a new challenge: the role of one of rock and roll's most important and influential voices, Ronnie Spector.

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Deadline reports that movie studio A24 is close to finalizing a deal that will land the young actress the lead role in the movie adaptation of Be My Baby, the book Spector wrote with Vince Waldron.

Similar to Aretha Franklin handpicking Jennifer Hudson for the lead role in the upcoming Respect, Spector made it clear that she wanted Zendaya to portray her on the big screen. Spector's life is rich with movie material. Growing up in Spanish Harlem, her group the Ronettes featuring a sister and a cousin was plucked from obscurity by notorious producer, Phil Spector. The young and smitten singer married Spector, a move that she soon regretted. She was able to extract herself from the marriage and retain the rights to her music, which includes some of the biggest hits of the 1960s.

Spector's career famously got a second wind in 1986 after Eddie Money interpolated the Ronettes' 1963 smash hit, "Be My Baby," into his single, "Take Me Home Tonight." The song came complete with Ronnie Spector on vocals. The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2007.

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