Sabrina Carpenter Joins Tom Holland's Fred Astaire Biopic as Ginger Rogers — and Shrugs Off Madonna's VMAs Call-Out

Sabrina Carpenter's résumé keeps getting stranger and more impressive. The pop star, who has spent the past two years collecting Grammy Awards and Billboard No. 1s, is now adding a Hollywood Golden Age icon to her filmography: Ginger Rogers.

A New Dance Partner: Tom Holland's Fred Astaire Biopic

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carpenter will star alongside Tom Holland in Sony's upcoming Fred Astaire biopic, playing Rogers — Astaire's most famous film co-star and the woman who matched his steps across classics like Top Hat and Swing Time. Margaret Qualley has already been cast as Adele Astaire, Fred's older sister and early Broadway partner, while Talia Ryder — a classically trained dancer who appeared in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story — will play June Allyson, the MGM actress originally set to star opposite Astaire in Royal Wedding.

Paddington director Paul King is helming the project from a screenplay he co-wrote with Steven Levenson, based on Kathleen Riley's book The Astaires: Fred & Adele. Amy Pascal and Rachel O'Connor produce for Pascal Pictures, with support from Astaire family members — including Fred's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, whose son Tyler McKenzie serves as consultant and co-producer.

The casting represents a significant pivot for Carpenter, who hasn't led a major studio film since her Disney Channel and Netflix era. But the role fits: Rogers was a multi-hyphenate in an era when that was rare — a dancer, singer, and actress who won an Academy Award for Kitty Foyle and whose partnership with Astaire defined an entire style of screen musical. Carpenter, who has spent the last several years building one of pop's most theatrical live shows, knows something about that kind of triple-threat presence.

Madonna, the VMAs, and the Art of the Quick Comeback

Meanwhile, Carpenter found herself at the center of a very different kind of duet. She and Madonna took home the Best Collaboration award at the MTV Video Music Awards for their song "Bring Your Love" — but the acceptance speech is what people are still talking about.

Madonna, accepting the award alongside Carpenter, decided to share the origin story of the track. She explained that after five days passed without hearing back from Carpenter's team about a potential collaboration, she took matters into her own hands. "Everybody who knows me knows how impatient I am," Madonna said from the stage. "When five days passed, and I still didn't get connected with Sabrina and didn't hear back from her about whether she wanted to do a song with me — 5 days — I DM'ed her."

Carpenter, per Madonna, responded quickly. "Within weeks we were in the studio together," Madonna said. "It was fabulous."

But the moment turned pointed when Madonna added that Carpenter was "so professional" — a compliment that landed with an unmistakable subtext about her team's responsiveness. Carpenter, according to BuzzFeed, leaned into the microphone and delivered a comeback that was bleeped out in the broadcast: "My team is shitting themselves backstage."

She followed it up with a defense that managed to be both gracious and pointed. "My team replies, just so everybody knows," Carpenter said. "They do respond to people, but I respond faster. So direct line to me is always the best way to get in contact."

The audience applauded. Madonna embraced her. The two walked offstage hand-in-hand, with Madonna suggesting they were "gonna go back there and have a drink or something."

What the Body Language Actually Said

Social media, predictably, split on whether Carpenter had been embarrassed. A psychic and body language expert named Efimero, speaking to Voyance Tchat, offered a different read: Carpenter was fine.

"Throughout the speech, Sabrina repeatedly turns toward Madonna while she is speaking, watches her closely and responds with frequent smiles and laughter," Efimero said. "She remains physically close and maintains an open posture rather than withdrawing when Madonna's comments become more pointed."

Efimero added that there's a distinction between being teased and being uncomfortable. "Although Madonna clearly puts Sabrina on the spot with the story about the five-day wait — and I can understand why some people have described the moment as embarrassing — but there is a difference between being publicly teased and actually appearing uncomfortable," they said. "Based on the body language, Sabrina doesn't look genuinely distressed or eager to disengage; she appears to understand the joke and is confident enough to volley it back."

That confidence tracks with the artist Carpenter has become. Since signing with Island Records in 2021, she has released three studio albums — Emails I Can't Send (2022), Short n' Sweet (2024), and Man's Best Friend (2025) — all while honing a live presence that rewards quick thinking. Her VMAs moment with Madonna wasn't a stumble. It was a performer who knows how to work a room, even when the room is a nationally televised awards show.

The Madonna Connection Runs Deeper

The pair's chemistry isn't new. Madonna joined Carpenter as a special guest during her Coachella set in April, performing "Vogue" and "Like a Prayer" along with material from Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II. For Madonna, the moment was a full-circle return to the festival where she had first performed Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part I in America years earlier.

"I was in the dance tent, and it was the first time I performed Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part I in America," Madonna said at the VMAs, per Entertainment Weekly. "So you can imagine what a thrill to be back 22 years later in the same boots, in the same corset… the jacket I had on earlier, the same Gucci jacket? So it's a full circle moment, you know? Very meaningful for me."

That Coachella performance — and now the VMA win — gives Carpenter a collaborator with genuine lineage in pop reinvention. It's a partnership that works because both artists understand something about spectacle: Madonna built her career on it, and Carpenter has spent the last few years proving she's fluent in the same language.

What Comes Next

Carpenter's plate is full. Between the Fred Astaire biopic, her recent run of chart-topping albums, and the steady stream of high-profile collaborations, she's operating at a level where a VMAs acceptance speech doubles as a cultural moment and a casting announcement doubles as a career pivot.

Whether she's dancing alongside Tom Holland in a Golden Age musical or trading barbs with Madonna on live television, the through-line is the same: Carpenter is comfortable in the spotlight, and she's not afraid to talk back. That's not just good press. That's star power.