Alanis Morissette Expands Her Acting Range In New Role

10/30/07 5:30pm

by Moya Dillon (CHARTattack)

Alanis Morissette has signed on to star in the movie adaptation of sci-fi novelist Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical novel, Radio Free Albemuth.

The singer will play Sylvia, a woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who shows up in the visions of a record label executive named Nick (played by Jonathan Scarfe) as a glamorous singer. She gets a job as his secretary and the two eventually become soulmates. The film incorporates both the visions of what's going on Nick's head along with the reality of what's happening around him.

"I am a big fan of Philip K. Dick's poetic and expansively imaginative books," Morissette said in a Hollywood Reporter article. "I feel blessed to portray Sylvia, and to be part of this story being told in film."

The novel, which was loosely based on Dick's experience with visions in the mid-'70s, was written in 1976 but published posthumously in 1985. First-time director John Alan Simon adapted the script for film. Radio Free Albemuth began filming this month in Los Angeles, where Morissette now lives after growing up in Ottawa.

Despite getting her start as a child on the You Can't Do That On Television series, Morissette established herself as a singer before getting into acting. The 33 year old played God in director Kevin Smith's Dogma and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, guest-starred as a lesbian for a three-episode arc on the plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck last season, and has appeared in episodes of Sex And The City, American Dreams, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Lovespring International.

The award-winning artist released her last album, a greatest hits record titled The Collection, in 2005.