R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe would choose Billie Eilish to play him in a biopic

Billie Eilish performs March 4, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Naomi Rahim/Getty Images for Live Nation); Michael Stipe on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,'  April 23, 2026 (Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Billie Eilish and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe don't seem to have a lot in common physically: She's in her 20s, while he's in his 60s. He has a huge beard, and she doesn't have any facial hair. She's a woman, and he's a man. But still, she is Michael's #1 choice for who should portray him if the "Losing My Religion" band ever gets their own biopic.

Michael made the pronouncement Thursday night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, after Stephen asked him who should play him in said biopic. After first replying, "Someone really hot," Michael thought about it for a bit before suggesting, "Maybe Billie Eilish could do it."

"She held a door open for me once at a restaurant in Manhattan," he said of Billie. "I don't know if she knew who I was. She's incredibly polite and sweet, but I didn't know who she was until she was down the street." Colbert then offered to introduce Michael to Billie and her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS.

In other Billie news, she's just released the music fans heard at her concerts before she started her shows on her most recent tour. Called "INTRO (HIT ME HARD AND SOFT TOUR)," the two-minute electronic-sounding piece includes snippets of "The Greatest," one of the songs on her HIT ME HARD AND SOFT album. 

The release comes ahead of the premiere of BILLIE EILISH - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D), the concert film she made with James Cameron that's coming out May 8. Variety reports the movie will premiere at LA's historic Village Theater on May 6.

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