If a Talking Heads biopic was ever in the pipeline, Steve Coogan has made it clear he would like to be in line to play David Byrne. Byrne has given his official approval to the hypothetical casting after hearing that Coogan wants to bring the singer's signature suit to the silver screen.
Byrne and Coogan both made their comments in recent interviews with NME. With Coogan's Alan Partridge cavorting through British cinemas, the magazine asked the actor which musical icon he might be interested in taking on next. His answer was apparently unequivocal.
"[David Byrne] hasn't done what a lot of rock stars do, which is just conform to what they do and what everyone wants them to be," Coogan marvelled. "He does his own thing and hopefully enough people like it to sustain it. It'd be fun wearing his big suits too."
"OK, I would love to see that!" Byrne announced to the magazine in response. "Steve came the last time I played in London. He was there. So you never know." Byrne's other suggestion for the role is American comedian Fred Armisen, whose impersonation he witnessed live. "I went to see [Joan As Police Woman] ... and Fred was the opening act. He didn't know I was in the audience, but he did an imitation of me that was really good. Really good! He found out I was in the audience, and I think he was a little bit like, 'Oh shit!'"
Coogan's last musical role was playing Tony Wilson in 2002's 24 Hour Party People, which charted the rise and fall of Factory Records. The 47-year-old is also scheduled to appear in Northern Soul, a forthcoming feature about the UK's soul music craze in the mid-1970s.
