Well, this isn’t a pairing any folk-loving mind ever could have made. Variety reports that modern pop idol Taylor Swift has started to eye her first lead acting role, in Girls Like Us, a biopic of sorts that would see her inhabit ’60s folk legend Joni Mitchell.

You may or may not recall that, more than a year ago, John Sayles was pegged to adapt Sheila Weller‘s original book for Katie Jacobs, a relative newcomer whose directing work was, up to now, only shown on the small screen. (It’s okay if you forgot. I did.) It turns out this has all been retained since then, with Sony now looking to distribute for Di Bonaventura Films; production would go into action later this year, so long as everyone’s respective schedules can align with enough time.

“Schedules?” is a question you may be asking. Girls Like Us, as the title may hint, isn’t just the story of Joni Mitchell and her groovy ways; Weller took a three-pronged approach with her book, also telling the simultaneous stories of Mitchell’s two friends, Carol King and Carly Simon, the former providing a role that Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim, Midnight in Paris) may end up taking. (I can only presume Simon is still being scouted out.)

I know many a folk fan will cry out in disgust over the nature of this casting but, being relatively unattached to Mitchell’s music and legacy — she was never my cup of hippie tea, alas — leaves yours truly, for lack of better phrasing, relatively unattached to the idea of Swift taking the part. But I still want a good actress doing this material, and I can’t say she’s been able to prove herself this early out. Maybe she was revelatory in Valentine’s Day? I don’t know what to expect, frankly.

Has Girls Like Us struck the right chord with this news?