Rock Icon Wants Florence Pugh to Play Her in Biopic

Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry has two words for actress Florence Pugh: “Call Me.”

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the 80-year-old singer discussed her acting roles, a potential return to the silver screen, and the currently-in-development biopic about her life from Aftersun director Charlotte Wells—including Pugh being her first choice to portray her.

“If it were somebody like Florence Pugh, I would be in heaven,” she said. “I just think she’s a great actor and she could do anything.”

Harry is an accomplished actress herself, with prominent roles in several important and influential films, like the neo-noir Union City, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, John Waters’ Hairspray, Martin Scorsese’s New York Stories, and John Carpenter’s segment of the horror anthology film Body Bags.

Her “biggest regret” when it came to acting was when Ridley Scott offered her the role of the leading lady in the ultra-classic science fiction film Blade Runner. Her record label didn’t want her to take time away from music, so she turned Scott down.

Daryl Hannah eventually got the role (and sported a Debbie Harry-esque haircut in the film), and became a star due to the film’s success. Harry’s bandmate Chris Stein chalked it up to “bad advice” and told Harry she “should have done it.”

Pugh is one of the most prominent leading ladies of this generation, with starring roles in big movies like Midsommar and Little Women, the latter of which she received an Oscar nomination for. Interestingly enough, Pugh has already expressed interest in playing Debbie Harry on-screen before.

In 2020, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, a writer asked Pugh which famous figure she’d like to play in a biopic. “Blondie, just because she’s so cool,” Pugh said, according to an Entertainment Weekly article.