Daisy Edgar-Jones has been tapped to portray the legendary singer Carole King in a biopic titled Beautiful. It was first reported on Thursday that Sony Pictures had selected the Where the Crawdads Sing star for the role.
The film will be an adaption of the Broadway show, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which first premiered in 2013 and follows the early life of King.
It is expected that, like the play, the film will feature several of King’s hit songs. She is considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, having written over 100 pop hits that made it to Billboard’s Hot 100 throughout her lifetime.
The film adaption was first reported to be in development back in 2015. However, it has now officially found its star in Edgar-Jones.
It was also announced that the film had found a director in Lisa Cholodenko, the filmmaker behind The Kids Are All Right. Cholodenko will also be writing the script for the film, along with Stuart Blumberg.
King approved of the casting choice, stating, “Daisy has a spirit and energy that I recognized as myself when I was younger. She’s a tremendous talent and I know she’s going to give a great performance.”
Daisy Edgar-Jones’ acting career
Edgar-Jones’ casting as King is just the latest development in her impressive acting career. Though just 24, the actress already has prestigious BAFTA and Gold Globe Award nominations under her belt.
What’s even more impressive is how quickly she found success in the film industry. She has only been acting since 2016 but has accomplished a lot in six short years.
Her first acting gig was in Cold Feet as Olivia Marsden. She held a recurring role in the series until 2020 and also guest appeared in Silent Witness and Gentleman Jack.
However, by 2019 she had nabbed her first lead role in War of the Worlds. The TV series is a live-action adaption of H. G. Wells’s novel of the same name.
After impressing viewers with her eerie connection to the extraterrestrial, Edgar-Jones had her true breakthrough in Normal People. The series was based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Sally Rooney and quickly attained critical acclaim.
The role earned Edgar-Jones international recognition nearly overnight. Shortly after Normal People, she was cast in the lead roles in Under the Banner of Heaven, Fresh, and Where the Crawdads Sing.
The life of Carole King
Edgar-Jones’ career will be taking another leap as she gears up to portray a true legend. King has become one of the most iconic female singer/songwriters of her time, writing her first number-one hit at just 17.
She started writing hits with her then-husband, Gerry Goffin, and Will You Love Me Tomorrow was the first to pick up steam. By the 1960s, she had delved into her solo career with the song Baby Sittin’.
One of her most famous works is the 1971 album Tapestry which earned King four Grammy Awards. The album was one of the most successful albums of the whole decade, and it boldly tackled the formerly male-dominated genre of rock.
In addition to boasting her own impressive singing career, King has written countless songs for other artists. An estimated 1,000 artists have recorded hundreds of King’s compositions, earning her an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.
King has continued to inspire countless singers and future generations with her music and songwriting. Even as recently as 2021, she penned an award-winning song, Here I Am (Singing My Way Home), for the film Respect.