Billie Eilish is in negotiations to star in her first feature film, an adaption of the classic novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
The film, which Focus Features is finalizing a contract to support and publish in the United States, will be directed by Oscar winner Sarah Polley, who is best known for writing the television series Alias Grace and directing films such as Women Talking and Away From Her.
American author and poet Plath wrote only one book, The Bell Jar. The partially autobiographical piece, which was first published in 1963, describes a young woman’s decline into psychological disorders and the weight of social demands. The work mirrored Plath’s personal struggles with depression; sadly, the author committed herself within a month of the book’s initial UK release.
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The book became an immediate best-seller in the United States and was subsequently translated into over forty languages. Eilish will portray Esther Greenwood, a primary character.
Dark-influenced pop queen Eilish, renowned for her soulful, reflective lyrics, seems to fit well with this material. Eilish doesn’t currently intend to contribute music to the project, but it would be lovely if that happened.
For No Time To Die in 2022 and Barbie in 2024, Eilish took home the Best Original Song Oscar. She is the only Oscar winner born in the twenty-first century and became the youngest double-time winner in history in 2024 at the age of just twenty-two.
In 1979, Larry Peerce helmed Marilyn Hassett and Julie Harris in the film’s only notable prior adaptation. In 2007, Julia Stiles was supposed to star in a version, but it never happened. Ten years later, Kirsten Dunst was again slated to helm a version starring Dakota Fanning, but that project was also abandoned.
