'Be My Baby': Zendaya's Ronnie Spector Movie, Explained
The project has been rumored since at least 2018.
Zendaya’s next role as the late songstress Ronnie Spector has been in the works for years. Per Deadline, the actor will produce and star in A24’s Be My Baby, a biopic loosely based on the memoir written by the legendary The Ronettes singer. Although Zendaya is known for her dramatic acting roles, she does have some musical experience under her belt. Lest we forget her 2013 hit “Replay.”
Rumors that Zendaya was set to play Spector have been buzzing for years, but the project had yet to take shape until now.
Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, Mufasa) is set to direct the film. Luca Guadagnino, whom Zendaya worked with on Challengers, is also attached to the project as a producer. David Kajganich, a Guadagnino collaborator on Bones and All and Suspiria, will pen the original screenplay.
Here, all the details about Be My Baby starring Zendaya.
Who was Ronnie Spector?
Spector, born Veronica Bennett, co-founded The Ronettes in the late 1950s with her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talle. The group were known for their bold fashion and beauty choices (“The louder they applauded, the more mascara we put on the next time,” Spector said in her book) and their signature song “Be My Baby” is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential pop songs of all time. The Ronettes toured England with the Rolling Stones and befriended the Beatles. The original trio split up in 1967.
Spector married “Be My Baby” producer Phil Spector in 1968, from whom she divorced in 1974. She documented their relationship and “psychological torment” in her 1990 memoir (he would later be sentenced to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson). She passed away in 2022 after a brief battle with cancer.
Did Zendaya and Spector meet?
Yes, Zendaya and Spector met all the way back in 2018. (Rumors that Zendaya would play Spector have been floating around since then, but the news was only confirmed in early 2025). Following Spector’s passing in 2022, Zendaya paid her respects to the singer on Instagram.
“This news just breaks my heart,” Zendaya wrote. “To speak about her as if she’s not with us feels strange as she is so incredibly full of life. There's not a time I saw her without her iconic red lips and full teased hair, a true rockstar through and through.”
The Dune star continued, “Ronnie, being able to know you has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Thank you for sharing your life with me, I could listen to your stories for hours and hours. Thank you for your unmeasured talent, your unwavering love for performing, your strength, resilience and your grace.”
According to sources, Spector was an executive producer on the film before her passing. She reportedly hand-selected Zendaya to play her.
What is Be My Baby about?
According to Deadline, Zendaya and Jenkins “agreed on a version of Spector’s story that could immerse audiences in what the singer’s life with the troubled producer Phil Spector felt like rather than a traditional cradle to the grave biopic.” The outlet also reported that the actor and director had “been looking to work together for some time.”
“Ronnie Spector's first collaboration with producer Phil Spector, ‘Be My Baby,’ stunned the world and shot girl group the Ronettes to stardom,” reads a description of the memoir. “But her voice was soon drowned out in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and lost in Ronnie and Phil’s ensuing romance and marriage. Ronnie had to fight tooth and nail to wrest back control of her life, her music, and her legacy. And while she regained her footing, Ronnie found herself recording with Stevie Van Zandt, partying with David Bowie, and touring with Bruce Springsteen.”
Does Be My Baby have a release date?
Stay tuned; Be My Baby is currently in production.
