Cast Takes Shape For Billie Eilish’s ‘Bell Jar’ Film Debut

Billie Eilish’s first feature film acting role is officially in the can. Production has wrapped on Sarah Polley’s adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, with Eilish starring as Esther Greenwood and a newly confirmed ensemble joining her in the long-awaited screen version of Plath’s 1963 novel.

The film is produced by Plan B Entertainment, STUDIOCANAL and Joy Coalition, with Focus Features aboard as distributor. Polley both wrote and directed the project. No theatrical release date has been announced.

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Eilish will play Greenwood, the brilliant young woman at the center of Plath’s semi-autobiographical story, which follows her descent into mental illness amid the suffocating expectations placed on women in 1950s America. Carey Mulligan, whose casting was first reported by Variety in July, plays Esther’s mother, Mrs. Greenwood.

The rest of the cast is now confirmed, including Danielle Deadwyler as Dr. Nolan, Dylan Hawco as Buddy Willard, Lili Taylor as Jay Cee, Ella Beatty as Joan, Maggie Kuntz as Doreen, Ike Barinholtz as Lenny and Connor Storrie as Marco. Storrie’s involvement had previously been rumored following his breakout in the hockey-themed TV show Heated Rivalry.

Eilish previously acted in the 2023 Prime Video series Swarm, appeared as herself on Sesame Street and hosted Saturday Night Live in 2021. That same year, she released both the concert film A Love Letter to Los Angeles and the documentary The World’s a Little Blurry. This summer, she starred and co-directed (with James Cameron) the 3-D concert film HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D).

Eilish has also won Academy Awards for her contributions to the Barbie and No Time To Die soundtracks.

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