Spike Lee didn’t care that Madonna wasn’t quite in vogue when casting his 1996 film “Girl 6.”
Lee, who has counted Madonna as a personal friend for years, told Vulture that he wanted the “Material Girl” singer to have a cameo in the feature after her bestie Debi Mazar was also cast. Mazar played a phone-sex operator whose coworker (Theresa Randle) is an aspiring actress. Madonna stars as their boss.
Yet Madonna’s acting career was in a downward spiral at the time after her two box office flops, “Body of Evidence” and “Dangerous Game.” Lee, regardless, was undeterred.
“I didn’t give a fuck,” Lee said. “She’s who I had in mind, and she wanted to do it, so that was it. She’s a pro.”
Lee also gave Madonna script notes on her now-shelved biopic that was set to star Julia Garner. Rumored to be titled “Little Sparrow,” the film was to be written and directed by Madonna. The feature is said to culminate with Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour. Garner was cast as Madonna, with Julia Fox portraying Mazar. The film was officially shelved by Universal in January 2023.
However, Fox recently told IndieWire that if the biopic does go forward, she may have “aged out” of playing Mazar in that specific era.
“I mean, I’d still love to but I genuinely don’t know,” Fox said. “They are going back, you know, when, when they’re like 19 and they first meet. I feel like I might have already aged out of that casting, but we’ll see.”
She added of Mazar, “I love Debi. She’s truly New York royalty, and it would be an honor to play her.”
As for the film itself, Fox confirmed that Madonna opted to go on tour instead of going into production on the feature.
“I know it was gonna be either tour or movie and then she went on tour,” Fox said. “So I don’t know when the movie will be picking back up again or when they’re going to start working on it again. But I didn’t hear anything. I actually don’t know.”
