Beyoncé Knowles to be cast as Bob Dylan?

Todd Haynes' new film will see seven different actors play music's most enigmatic star, and some casting choices will be stranger than others.

Mar 23 2005

Bob Dylan will be played by seven different actors in a forthcoming biopic of his life - and in an unusual casting decision, one of them will be a black woman.

'I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Bob Dylan' will be directed by Todd Haynes ('Velvet Goldmine', 'Far From Heaven') and follow the singer's career from the early 1960s right up to the present day.

During that time span, Dylan will be played by seven different actors to represent the artist's ever-changing personas, including an 11-year-old child and a black woman.

Haynes is currently looking for someone who can do justice to the singer's 'inner blackness', and is reportedly considering Beyoncé Knowles, Oprah Winfrey and even tennis star Venus Williams for the role.

Speaking to The Times, Haynes said that Dylan was 'too complex' to be played by a single actor, adding: 'I am setting out to explode the idea that anybody can be depicted in a single self.'

This won't be the first time that Haynes has made eccentric casting decisions for a music biopic either - in 1987 he made 'Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story' using Barbie dolls.

The Dylan film is due for release sometime next year, and rest assured we'll keep you posted on any more casting news from the project (David Beckham for his difficult gospel period, perhaps?).