Madonna is hard at work putting together her upcoming biopic, which she is directing herself and writing alongside Secretary screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson. In a new interview with Variety, the Queen of Pop revealed that she’s still early in the biopic-making process. “I have a very long script that is really hard for me to make shorter,” she revealed. “I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs.”

As for why she decided to make the biopic and lead the charge, Madonna explained, “I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film.”