“Baby Reindeer” breakout Jessica Gunning will portray Cass Elliot in “My Mama Cass,” a biographical drama about the singer of the 1960s folk group the Mamas & The Papas.
Adapted from Elliot’s only child Owen Elliot-Kugell’s memoir of the same name, the film will center on the life, legacy and music of the influential artist. Emma Forrest is writing the screenplay; a director has not been attached. A press release emphasizes that “My Mama Cass” is “not a Mamas & the Papas biopic.”
Best known as the strongest singer in the 1960s pop group the Mamas and the Papas, Elliot was a vital connector in the Los Angeles music scene of the mid to late 1960s. Her Laurel Canyon home was an epicenter for the young and fabulous of the era. One collection of photographs captured her, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Eric Clapton, Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees and several other luminaries hanging out, passing a joint and eating lunch while the then-little-known Mitchell sings and accompanies herself on guitar.
“Mama” Cass Elliot died more than 50 years ago, but her legacy lives on through the songs she sang as a founding member of the Mamas and the Papas and her one-of-a-kind solo work. She’s been consistently present in pop culture through the years, with her late-Sixties hit “Make Your Own Kind of Music” appearing in television shows, viral TikTok memes, and SNL skits. Now, Elliot’s life will be portrayed on the big screen, with the upcoming film My Mama, Cass.
The film, currently in development, will be adapted by novelist and screenwriter Emma Forrest, with Veritas Entertainment attached to produce. “This is not a traditional Mamas & the Papas biopic,” the film’s press release reads. “It is a definitive Cass Elliot film, centered on her life, legacy, and the mother-daughter bond that shaped them both.”
