Country icon Loretta Lynn knew Zooey Deschanel would be perfect to portray the singer in a Broadway musical based on her life after hitting it off with the actress within minutes of meeting.

The New Girl star thought the veteran's 1976 autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, would be great for the stage, and after discovering a production was already in the works, she reached out to organisers in a bid to have herself cast in the lead role.

She was invited to meet Lynn before a concert in Nashville, Tennessee in May, 2012, and immediately won the legend's approval, with the singer making the big casting announcement onstage during her gig at the Ryman Auditorium that night.

And Lynn reveals it was Deschanel's warm and bubbly nature which won her over.

She tells Marie Claire magazine, "We bonded right at the beginning - it's like meeting somebody and you feel like you've known them forever. She's young, and she's good. She can pull it off - I ain't (sic) worried one bit."

The show is still in development, but when Deschanel finally does step on the New York stage, it will be her Broadway debut.