Billie Eilish is in advanced talks to make her feature film acting debut as Esther Greenwood in Sarah Polley's adaptation of Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar.' The project, backed by Plan B Entertainment, Joy Coalition, and StudioCanal with Focus Features in talks for distribution, follows a young woman's mental health struggles amid 1950s societal expectations. Polley, an Oscar winner for 'Women Talking,' is directing and adapting the screenplay.
Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel 'The Bell Jar,' published under a pseudonym in 1963 shortly before the author's suicide at age 30, centers on Esther Greenwood, a young woman facing mental health challenges, psychiatrists, mental institutions, and rigid gender roles in 1950s America. A 1979 film adaptation received negative reviews.
Reports from Rolling Stone, NME, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter indicate Billie Eilish, 24, is attached to play Greenwood, marking her first lead film role after debuting as a cult leader in the 2023 miniseries 'Swarm,' where she earned a People's Choice Award for TV performance and an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Donald Glover, 'Swarm' co-creator, praised her in a 2024 Rolling Stone interview: “She understands storytelling at such a young age... And she’s authentic to her experience. I feel she’s living her life for herself.”
While some outlets describe the casting as set, others note Eilish is in advanced talks. Deadline and The Insider first broke news of the project. Sarah Polley, who won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'Women Talking' (2022), is directing and writing this, her first feature since that film. Her recent credits include the screenplay for Pablo Trapero’s '& Sons' (2025).
Producers include Joy Gorman Wettels’s Joy Coalition, Plan B Entertainment, and StudioCanal, with Focus Features discussing distribution.
Eilish, a two-time Oscar winner for Best Original Song ('No Time to Die' in 2022 and 'What Was I Made For?' from 'Barbie' in 2024), has shared mixed feelings on acting. In a 2023 Variety interview, she said it was an interest but she thought she was “really bad.” During her 'Saturday Night Live' monologue, she recalled loving acting as a child, influenced by her actor parents and brother Finneas, and dreaming of movies.
Eilish is also co-directing her concert film 'Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)' with James Cameron. Filmed during sold-out July 2025 shows at Manchester’s Co-op Live, it was delayed from March 20, 2026, to May 8 due to technical issues.
