Madonna shared a photo on her Instagram Story Tuesday of her studying a script while riding in a water taxi in Venice, the city where she filmed the iconic “Like a Virgin” video. That photo, Entertainment Weekly reports, documents the fact that the Queen of Pop is taking on her first acting role in more than 20 years.
According to EW, Madonna will make a guest appearance in Apple TV’s Emmy-winning comedy The Studio, which is currently shooting its second season in Europe. Madonna captioned the photo, “The Italian Job” and placed a heart over the script, so we can’t see what it is. Madonna was also separately photographed on set.
The Studio stars Seth Rogen as the bumbling head of a movie studio and is famous for landing A-list guest stars like Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Ron Hon Howard, Zac Efron, Jean Smart, Zoë Kravitz and even Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.
EW notes that Madonna’s last major acting role was in 2002, when she starred in Swept Away, a film directed by ex-husband Guy Ritchie. That same year, she had a small part in the James Bond film Die Another Day. She also had a cameo in a 2003 episode of Will & Grace.
ABC Audio has reached out to Madonna’s reps for comment.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
