Billie Eilish is set to make her film acting debut in Sarah Polley’s adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
Academy Award winner Pauley will adapt and direct the film, which will be his first film since winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for 2023’s Woman Talking. Eilish co-wrote the original songs for Barbie and No Time to Die with her brother Finneas, and has won two Oscars.
“The Bell Jar” is the only novel written by American author and poet Plath. The semi-autobiographical story, which Variety understands has been a longtime fan of Eilish, follows a young woman’s descent into mental illness amid society’s stifling expectations of women in the 1950s. Hailed as a classic of literature, the book was published under a pseudonym in 1963, shortly before Plath’s suicide.
Pauley’s The Bell Jar, which has been in development with Eilish for some time, has landed at Focus Features and will be produced by Joy Gorman Wettels (Little House on the Prairie, 13 Reasons Why), Plan B Entertainment and Studio Canal. Gorman-Wettels originated the project through her company Joy Coalition, packaged it with Eilish and Pauley, and partnered with Plan B and StudioCanal before Focus came on board.
Eilish made her acting debut in the Prime Video series Swarm, co-created by Donald Glover and Janine Neighbors and starring Dominique Fishback. Eilish gave an outstanding performance, winning the People’s Choice Award for Best Television Performance that year and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series. The 10-time Grammy winner is building on her filmography by co-directing the upcoming concert tour documentary “Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – The Tour” with “Avatar” and “Titanic” director James Cameron.
Eilish is repped by WME, Sandbox Entertainment and High Rise PR. Polley is repped by WME, GGA and Circle Management. And Gorman Wettels is represented by Nina Shaw of Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Rezcano Bob & Dan.
Deadline and The Insneider first reported news of the project.
