Broadway's Nina Arianda tapped for Janis Joplin film

Biopic woman: Janis Joplin

The makers of a planned film about rock icon Janis Joplin have tapped recent Tony Award winner Nina Arianda to play the part of the 1960s singer in a biographical movie directed by Sean Durkin, a spokesman for the director said on Tuesday.

The independently-produced film, titled "Joplin," looks at the last six months in the life of the raspy-voiced singer who died in 1970 of a drug overdose following chart success with classic rock hits such as "Down on Me" and "Piece of My Heart."

Reuters