Joni Mitchell Thinks Taylor Swift Has "High Cheekbones" and Not Much Else to Offer as an Actress

Folk legend "squelched" a biopic about herself, Carole King and Carly Simon

By Zach Johnson Nov 26, 2014 3:50 PMTags
Joni Mitchell, Taylor Swift Beck Starr/Jim Spellman/WireImage

The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!

First Bette Midler dissed Ariana Grande, then Joni Mitchell dissed Taylor Swift!

In April 2012, it was reported that the "Blank Space" singer was in talks to portray the folk legend in the big-screen adaptation of Girls Like Us, a book focusing on the impact of Carole King, Mitchell and Carly Simon. Swift was never officially offered the role, and as the pop singer told Time that year, "The thing about movies that I've learned is—I've been reading scripts for five years, and you just don't know what ones are going to get greenlit and which ones aren't, so I can't talk about it unless it's the real thing."

Swift discussed Mitchell for years, though, even after casting talks faded. "When I first started drinking...I used to cry about Joni Mitchell all the time after a few glasses of wine," she told Rolling Stone in 2014. "All my friends would know, once I started crying about Joni Mitchell, it was time for me to go to bed."

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mitchell, 71, explained why Swift, 24, won't be playing her on the big screen. "I squelched that. I said to the producer, 'All you've got is a girl with high cheekbones.'"

Mitchell also complained about the source material, written by Sheila Weller. She recalled telling the producer, "It's just a lot of gossip. You don't have the great scenes." Mitchell questioned its accuracy, too, saying, "There's a lot of nonsense about me in books...assumptions, assumptions, assumptions."

Alison Pill was also in talks to play King in Girls Like Us before Mitchell "squelched" the film.

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Swift, meanwhile, made her feature film debut in 2010's Valentine's Day, and she also had a minor role in 2014's The Giver. Asked if she plans to do more work in front of the camera, she told Time in 2012, "I would love to sign on to do a movie if it was the right role and if it was the right script, because I would be taking time away from music to tell a big grand story, and spend all of my time and pouring all of my emotions into being someone else. So, for me to do that, it would have to be a story worth telling."

Perhaps it's for the best, as Swift has a busy year ahead of her. The "Shake It Off" singer will kick off her 1989 World Tour on May 5 in Tokyo, Japan. She will perform 65 shows through Oct. 31 in Tampa, Fla.