Focus Features Confirms Cast for ‘The Bell Jar’ as Production Wraps on Billie Eilish Film Debut

Focus Features announced the cast for The Bell Jar. Sarah Polley directed this adaptation of Sylvia Plath's novel, and filming just finished. Billie Eilish stars in her first feature acting job. The two-time Oscar-winning singer-songwriter takes on Esther Greenwood, the main character from Plath's semi-autobiographical 1963 work.

Carey Mulligan plays Mrs. Greenwood, Esther's mother. Danielle Deadwyler will portray Dr. Nolan, Esther's psychiatrist, and Connor Storrie plays Marco, a character Esther meets on a blind date. 

Ike Barinholtz stars as Lenny, a radio host in New York City. Dylan Hawco appears as Buddy Willard, Esther's first boyfriend. Lili Taylor plays Jay Cee, editor of Ladies' Day magazine.

Ella Beatty is Joan, an acquaintance who winds up at the same mental hospital as Esther. Maggie Kuntz plays Doreen, Esther's best friend in New York and a fellow intern.

Polley directed from her own adapted screenplay. She won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking and brought together this cast for a story that follows an aspiring young writer who lands a magazine internship in New York City. The plot chronicles her struggles with ambition, identity, and mental health amid the societal expectations women faced in the 1950s.

Plan B, Studiocanal, and Joy Coalition produced the movie. Focus Features will distribute The Bell Jar, but no release date has been announced yet.