Billie Eilish eyes big-screen acting debut as Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar

Billie Eilish is reportedly preparing to take a major step into Hollywood, as she is in talks to make her big-screen acting debut in director Sarah Polley’s upcoming adaptation of the classic novel The Bell Jar.

Multiple reports on March 11 indicated that the 24-year-old singer is being considered for the lead role of Esther Greenwood in the film, which will be produced by Focus Features. Polley will both write and direct the project, adapting the iconic 1963 novel by poet and author Sylvia Plath.

The Bell Jar is the only novel Plath published during her lifetime before her death in 1963 at the age of 30. The story follows Esther Greenwood, a talented young woman whose promising future begins to unravel as she struggles with mental health challenges after taking a prestigious position at a magazine in New York City.

“Grappling with themes of feminism, societal pressures, and ambition, this is a deep dive into a mind capable of so much being gradually reduced to so little,” the description of the novel added.

According to Deadline, Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Fanning and Frankie Shaw have at times been involved with efforts to produce a movie or television adaptation of the novel over the last 20 years that never panned out.

If confirmed, the role would mark Billie Eilish’s first appearance in a feature film as an actor. The Grammy-winning singer already has experience in television, having made her acting debut in a 2023 episode of the Swarm on Amazon Prime Video.