FEATURE:
Let Me in Your Window
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing in Paris on the French T.V. show, Formule 1, on 16th March, 1983/PHOTO CREDIT: Jean-Jacques Bernier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Will Kate Bush Ever Be Represented in T.V. and Film?
__________
IN the past…
IN THIS PHOTO: Julia Garner photographed in New York in 2020/PHOTO CREDIT: JJ Reddington/BuzzFeed News/Redux
I have mused why there has not been a Kate Bush biopic and why need to see more of her on the screen. Kate Bush’s music has been brought to the screen. A few examples over the past five or six years. From The Bear and films such as Palm Springs to, of course, Stranger Things, we have heard her voice on the small and big screens. Bush starred in plenty of music videos and appeared in her own short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. That was back in the 1990s. She has done the odd bit here and there but, when it comes to her being represented in films and T.V., perhaps her name has been mentioned and we have seen and heard her albums. Perhaps there are not that many women who looks like Kate Bush to portray her. Mary Steenburgen could play a modern Kate Bush. I will park that thought and return to it. I am revising this topic because there is always activity when it comes to music biopics. There are some interesting biopics coming up. Apart from The Beatles’ ones from Sam Mendes in 2028, Zendaya will star as Ronnie Spector, the iconic lead singer of '60s girl group, The Ronettes, in the long-awaited biopic, Be My Baby, for A24. I think that there are some fantastic opportunities to fulfil. It was recently announced that Julia Garner will play Madonna in a biopic. Not too long ago, it seemed like that film had been scrapped. However, this work in progress is still on the cards. She has this uncanny resemblance to Madonna, especially her 1986 era when she released True Blue. I cannot wait for this biopic to be made and on the screen!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during the photoshoot for Hounds of Love’s second side, The Ninth Wave/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
I do think that there are reasons why we may never see a Kate Bush biopic. I have written about this for other features, though it is worth reviving at a time when female icons of music are being brought to the screen. Some may say that Bush’s life and career is not dramatic enough to make into a film. That there has not been enough drama perhaps. Bush is very private too, so she would not greenlight such a thing. However, with a new generation aware of her music, there is this question about whether we will see her likeness on the screen. It does not have to be a biopic or film/show entirely about Kate Bush. What angle would that take anyway? What time period would we look at? I do think that there are opportunities to include her in some form. I have written features asking whether we will ever see The Ninth Wave made into a film. That is the second side of her fifth studio album, Hounds of Love (which turned forty on 16th September). I think that it would an incredible film or T.V. show. Obviously, Kate Bush would not take the lead. I did speculate that n actor like Saoirse Ronan could play the lead. That suite is about a woman being swept overboard a ship and longing for help and hope. All the feelings and emotions that enter her head and the way that she dreams of being with friends and family but is overcome with delusions, fatigue and paranoia. I do hope it gets made one day. Whilst Bush did bring it to the stage in 2014 for Before the Dawn, the vast majority of her fans did not see it, and there are limitations with a staged production in terms of time, scope and scale.
IN THIS PHOTO: Margaret Qualley/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Higbee for Wonderland
It is great that Kate Bush’s music has appeared on the screen. It provokes conversations and means that there is this important and prominent placement. Her songs brought to life in different ways. Scoring scenes in unique ways. A biopic will never get made. Kate Bush would never allow this. I think that there is possibility that there could be something in terms of Bush’s likeness being used in a show or film. There are Kate Bush tribute acts. However, this would be something different. What I love is how there has been this absence. So many artists brought to life on the screen, though Kate Bush has not. As far as I know. I have been thinking about a drama or comedy that is set at a particular time and either we briefly see Kate Bush or it includes her music. In terms of modern actors who look like her, I have been thinking of Margaret Qualley. Maybe playing Bush during her Hounds of Love period or slightly before, if there was a music show or something that showed some of the biggest artists of the day, then it would be great to see Kate Bush portrayed. What I love is how there are so many possibilities when it comes to Kate Bush. Perhaps seeing her as a teenager when recording The Kick Inside or Wuthering Heights. Or a scene of her performing it on Top of the Pops and an actor playing her. I also like the idea of Kate Bush and Del Palmer (he played on many of her albums and was her engineer for several albums. He sadly died in 2024) seen together, either as a couple or in the studio. People would say Kate Bush would veto any idea like this. However, as she has reissued her albums and her music has appeared in T.V. shows and films, would she instantly take against any visual likeness of her if it was done affectionately? I come back to that Madonna biopic and the fact she was portrayed (by Evan Rachel Wood) in 2022’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
If not a chance to see an actor play Kate Bush either in a larger speaking role or just a brief visual flash, I do still think that her music could take a bigger role than it has to this point. There are shows that are soundtracked by a particular artist. They soundtrack things. It would be incredible if there were characters bonded by their love of Kate Bush or her music is at the centre of this powerful and memorable production. I have said how Kate Bush wants to remain private. Perhaps this would be too exposing. However, there are these incredible music biopics coming up, so it made me think of Kate Bush. Such an iconic artist that I have never seen portrayed in a film or T.V. series. The recent fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love put a new spotlight on her genius. I hope that something happens in terms of either her likeness coming to her screen or her music used more widely than it has been on shows like Stranger Things. An arc built around tracks or characters that reference Kate Bush or share their connection to and love of her. I can’t be the only one who would intrigued by those possibilities. I do sort of miss the excitement that there was around Stranger Things in 2022. Of course, there will be another burst of Kate Bush releases another album. However, there would be something wonderful about having Kate Bush played by an actor or her music being used in a film similar to Blinded by the Light (The film tells the coming-of-age story of Javed, a British-Pakistani Muslim teenager whose life is changed after he discovers the music of Bruce Spingsteen). I have pitched this before, and I still think that it could work. Fans might have their own views. Kate Bush would need to sign off and that could kill any potential. She might feel that anything like this would mean she’ll…
LOSE her purity, privacy and a sense of mystery.