Billie Eilish set to star in movie adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’
Billie Eilish is branching out to the big screen; the singer-songwriter is set to star in the movie adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
The ‘Birds of a Feather’ singer is in advanced talks to make her acting movie debut in the forthcoming movie directed by Oscar-winning Sarah Polley, according to Deadline.
Polley is known for movies like Women Talking and Away From Her, as well as the series Alias Grace.
The 24-year-old musician is allegedly set to take on the lead role in the adaptation of the novel, which was published in 1963, the month before Plath’s suicide at the age of 30.
The novel follows the 19-year-old protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who descends into mental illness during a fashion internship in New York City in 1953. The plot includes traumatic events such as a near-rape experience, a suicide attempt, and shock therapy.
The Bell Jar was previously adapted into a film in 1979 by Larry Peerce, starring Marilyn Hassett and Julie Harris. Other attempts to revitalise the work of fiction have fallen by the wayside; Kristen Dunst was attached to direct Dakota Fanning in the mid 2010s, but the project never came to fruition.
Eilish has acted before, but never for the movies; she starred in the 2023 TV series Swarm, co-created by Donald Glover. In the show, Eilish played Eva, the manipulative leader of a female empowerment cult.
Last year, Eilish announced an upcoming project with filmmaker James Cameron, set for a May release. Cameron attended several of Eilish’s concerts to create Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft, the 3D documentary.
Though Eilish is yet to publicly acknowledge this new project, she has previously discussed her love of acting. “I used to say that I hated acting,” Eilish said in her Saturday Night Live monologue in 2021.
She went on, “But the truth is, when I was little, I loved it! My mom and dad were both actors. So is my brother, Finneas. And it was my dream to be in a movie.”
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