Bob Dylan biopic on the way

Todd Haynes, the Oscar-nominated director, confirmed last week that he is searching for a woman who can do justice to the short white Jewish singer's "inner blackness".

The seven will play Dylan during different eras in his 43-year career, starting in the 1960s when his song The Times They Are A-Changin' became an anti-war anthem.

It is traditional in films spanning a lifetime for characters to be played by more than one actor, but rarer for them to change sex or race. Haynes is considering actresses ranging from the pop singer Beyoncé

Knowles to the tennis champion Venus Williams and the television presenter Oprah Winfrey.

Costing £30m, the film is due for release next year under the title I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan, produced by Paramount Pictures.

Last week the 44-year-old director said Dylan was "too complex" to be played by a conventional actor. "I am setting out to explode the idea that anybody can be depicted in a single self," he explained.