Billie Eilish To Lead The Bell Jar As Sarah Polley Writes and Directs
Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish is headed to the big screen, leading writer-director Sarah Polley’s Focus Features adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
File this under bold first steps: Billie Eilish is lining up her first movie role, and it is not a lightweight debut. She is in advanced talks to lead a new film version of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.
The package
Sarah Polley will write and direct. Yes, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Away From Her and Women Talking is steering this one, which already feels like a smart match of material and filmmaker. Focus Features is backing the project, with Plan B Entertainment and StudioCanal producing. Gorman Wettels is on board as producer.
The book and the role
Published in 1963 under the pseudonym 'Victoria Lucas,' The Bell Jar follows Esther Greenwood, a gifted young woman whose life buckles under the pressure of expectations and her own spiraling mental health. Plath died by suicide a month after the novel's release; it would take three more years before the book was published under her name. If the deal closes, Eilish would play Esther.
Hollywood has tried this before
The Bell Jar is one of those properties everyone wants to crack and almost no one does. There was a 1979 film with Marilyn Hassett and Julie Harris, and plenty of attempts since that never crossed the finish line:
- A mid-2000s version with Julia Stiles that stalled after years of development
- A later feature that Kirsten Dunst was set to direct with Dakota Fanning starring, which ultimately did not move forward
- A planned Showtime series with Frankie Shaw that never materialized
Why Billie, why now
Eilish has dipped a toe into acting with a memorably unsettling turn in the series Swarm. Most of her on-camera time has been as herself, whether hosting Saturday Night Live or visiting Sesame Street. This would be her first true lead in a feature, and a heavy, interior one at that. It is a big swing, and pairing her with Polley makes it a fascinating one.
On the music side, Eilish is, well, Eilish: touring on a massive scale and picking up trophies, including Song of the Year for 'What Was I Made For?'
No start date or additional casting yet. If this locks in, expect a lot of attention on how Polley and Eilish approach Esther's headspace — and whether this long-courted adaptation finally sticks.