Billie Eilish set for big screen acting debut in Sarah Polley’s adaptation of The Bell Jar

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish is set to make her big screen acting debut in an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar.According to Deadline, the 24-year-old will take on the lead role for Sarah Polley, the writer-director who previously won an Oscar for her Women Talking screenplay. Eilish is reportedly in advanced talks for the part.Eilish previously acted in 2023 TV series Swarm, co-created by Donald Glover.“I used to say that I hated acting,” Eilish said in her Saturday Night Live monologue. “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.”The film is set to be released by Focus Features in the US with other deals in the works.The Bell Jar was Plath’s sole novel, released the month before her suicide at the age of 30. It tells of a young female writer dealing with mental illness in the 1950s. “It’s a raw, unsettling book with flashes of brilliance, a roman à clef that’s also a long, tormented footnote to Plath’s tormented poetry,” the Guardian’s Robert McCrum wrote in a 2015 list which named it the 85th best book of all time.It was adapted into a film in 1979 starring Marilyn Hassett but received negative reviews. Further attempts, with stars including Julia Stiles and Dakota Fanning attached, failed to materialise.After winning the best adapted screenplay Oscar for Women Talking, Polley had been attached to a live-action remake of Bambi but later left the project. She has since written the screenplay for family drama & Sons.Polley’s previous films as director included relationship dramas Take This Waltz and Away From Here.Eilish recently became the first artist ever win the Grammy for song of the year three times. She has also won the best original song Oscar twice for the No Time to Die and Barbie soundtracks.This year will also see the theatrical release of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft, a 3D concert documentary from James Cameron, recently pushed back to a May release. “We’re refining the cut; dialing in cool, new 3D tech; adding some special behind-the-scenes we know you’ll love,” Cameron wrote on social media.