New movie?
Did anyone lese here that they would be making a new movie starring Julia Stiles? Just wondering. Trying to confirm rumors. =]
shareJulia Stiles? I hope to God that she doesnt star in it, but there we go. And erm, sorry i dunno :S.
share
MovieChat Forums > The Bell Jar (1979) Discussion > New movie?
yes, i read in entertainment weekly that she is trying to get the movie produced and star in it. it is apparently a dream of hers.
shareYeah! It was in some girly magazine that interviewed her. I was reading it in my dentist's office or something. I can actually see Julia pulling this role off. At least it's not Angelina Jolie...
"i can't have a hairy chest, B... that's f&%ked." - Ginger Snaps
Just finished the book a day ago and with the story fresh in mind I would say that Julia Stiles would be a terrible Esther. Just the idea upsets me, I hope this idea dosen't come to fruition. She's too old anyway.
shareI hope she doesnt play Esther, i dont like any of her films...
GeO.
Yeah. That Omen remake was horrible, and I never liked Save the Last Dance, but i still think she could pull it off. She seems to be a bit more introspective than most young actresses.
"i can't have a hairy chest, B... that's f&%ked." - Ginger Snaps
God, not Julia Stiles. She is so hard to watch (scrunched up nose and eyes). Is this film still being made? I hope not. The first one wasn't that great, quite frankly (ok, but not great), and I don't know if they should touch the story again. The film just seemed so static or sterile, in a way. Maybe they can vastly improve upon it, I don't know. But don't use Julia Stiles. And NOT Lindsay Lohan...she doesn't deserve any work.
shareI hope she dosen't play Esther but if she insist on being in it she should play Doreen.
Fritzi: Oh save the speech, rummy. She's *beep* I'm ready, and the goddamn show must go on.
As long as they don't get Shawn Ashmore to play Buddy.
My friend suggested that, and I shrank at the idea.
Don't hate me for this, but I could have seen Maggie Gyllenhaal as a decent Esther a few years ago, when she was a little younger and less famous.
when i read the book i always picture maggie...but definitely her a little younger. i still think she could do it though.
shareId kind be interested in seeing Julia as Esther, though i do feel she is too old. I would also love to see Kristen Stewart as Esther but she is a couple years too young.
You're here, thats all I need to know
Good News!!!
"Actress JULIA STILES is suing her former production partners for allegedly conspiring to rob her of a role in a film adaptation of SYLVIA PLATH's THE BELL JAR."
This is from a Julia Stiles website, I'm hoping it's credible.
I also read an article about this - I believe it was in Entertainment Weekly - about Julia Stiles attempting to get the project underway with her starring in it. I kept this in mind when I read the novel (just finished it yesterday). I have no beef with Stiles as an actress; actually, I think she is a damn fine actress. I do, however, have trouble seeing her in the role of Esther. Stiles usually carries a strong, tough demeanor in her roles, which doesn't seem to suit the role of Esther Greenwood. Not to say that Esther is a weak person, but she certainly carries a vulnerability througout the story that I personally can't see Stiles fitting in. Not to mention the fact that it seems that a novel such as "The Bell Jar" would be damn hard to adapt into a film.
Any thoughts?
Hello
I'm not sure what I think of Stiles playing the role of Esther - I agree with the above comment that she's slightly more introspective than most young actresses, and she seems to possess that pensive vulnerability, but I fear she's been too mainstream for too long to manage such a part with the delicacy that it needs, don't you think?
Interestingly, her character Kat reads The Bell Jar in a scene from 10 Things I Hate About You...
As for the book being made into a film anyway, I don't think it's a great idea. What makes the book work in the first place is the magnificent attention to detail that Plath places on language of the decline of Esther's mind. That can hardly be portrayed well in image form ... I think the film will end up being one of those cliched looks at teenage depression, probably in the vein of Girl, Interrupted (which I really liked), which, although great cinema, isn't as hard hitting and shockingly believable as the literature allows.
I'm a book freak though, so all film-buffs might want to discard my opinion!
Victoria.
"You're over me? When were you ever...under me?"
Ester Greenwood…………………………….Maggie gyllenhall
Doren…………………………………………Kirsten Dunst
Buddy Willard………………………………..Marc Blucas
Ester Greenwood…………………………….Maggie gyllenhall
Doren…………………………………………Kirsten Dunst
Buddy Willard………………………………..Marc Blucas
i like this idea!
....that cast screams Mona Lisa Smile all over again. Which was the *beep* movie in the world.
Hmmmm I agree with the no julia stiles though, shes a strong person....she wouldnt pull it off....but it seems she might as well star in the movie because shes so commited to the role...for all we know she could be perfect...
My dream cast:
Esther Greenwood.......................Maggie (but she needs to go blonde) OR, bare with me Emily Haines (Lead singer of metric) I only say this because I pictured her while i was reading it....
Doreen.................................Mena Suvari/Sienna Miller if she could pull of the american accent
Joan...................................Sarah Polly/Amy Adams
Buddy Willard..........................Hayden CHristianson
Mira Sorvino could be a good Esther is she was younger....she has amazing talent
i agree with hayden christiansen.
but to all the people saying kirsten dunst...no, i think itd be too much like the vigin suicides.
hasn't anyone ever told you that smoking was bad for you?
no..no one..THANK YOU.
"Esther Greenwood.......................Maggie (but she needs to go blonde)"
Last time I checked, Esther was a brunette...
But I don't necessarily think a "famous" actress is needed to play the role. I think someone whose talent is greater than their paycheck and notoriety would play the role far better than some well-known actress. I can't picture any actress I know playing Esther.
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life." -- Oscar Wilde
Yeah i think there is a new film, i saw it when i typed in the name on IMDB, but you need to have signed up to IMDB Pro to find out more.
Can't wait to see it!
I agree.
I read the book looong ago, but back then I think I imagined someone like audrey hepburn playing the role... i think the film has to have an actress that has - or can portray - this 50's ideal beauty which is so rare nowadays.
(yes, before anyone corrects me.. I know the book has been written and is set in the 60's..)
I REALLY dont think there should be a movie but if its gonna be made, please God let it be Maggie!!!!
share[deleted]
For me, the dream cast of a remake of The Bell Jar would be:
Esther: Scarlett Johannson
Buddy: Ryan Gosling
Doreen: Erika Christensen
Oh, look at you two! Caught right in the very act!
I have to say that I agree with the idea of Maggie Gyllenhaal playing Esther. I've just reread the book as I'm writing on it for my AP English class and there's just something about Maggie that I can see nailing Esther. I'm sorry, but Scarlett Johannson? Really? I think Scarlett is way to strong, even when she tries to play vulnerable, to capture the breakdown that Esther goes through.
This is the 1950's, chock full of politics and Eisenhower, sexuality and feminism, and we have a main character so afraid of all of that she thinks of herself as being in a bell jar and suffocating herself. That doesn't seem like the sort of part that Scarlett Johannson would play, much less Julia Stiles.
I'm not a fan of making this into a movie, unless it can find someone to play the perfect Esther in the way that Jack Nicholson played the perfect McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, saving that movie from failing.
I agree. Right now i don't think they are enough actresses that could fit the role of Esther and do it well. For me, the face i saw was the Rory girl from Gilmore girls (with the curly hair) but i know that with her voice and acting ability she could never pull it off. I think your right. Maggie could pull off any of the parts given to her, but like someone said, i don't think she's pretty enough.
shareI also think Scarlett Johannson would be a little too bold to play Esther. I'm still undecided on who'd make a great role for her.
I saw on here there's a new film coming out in 2008. I hope it lives up to the book.
Doren…………………………………………Kirsten Dunst
Huh? I thought i was the only one who had her face in my mind to play Doreen! I like it, Kirsten is good at playing this wild type of girl. I also like the Maggie idea. She is very introspective. share
I totally agree with Kirsten for Doreen..
Scarlett Johannsen would trample all over the role of Esther with her big ole overacting feet. If she got it I'd contemplate placing my own head in the oven..
doreen should be a voluptuous, marilyn monroe type, with an almost look of cruelty to her. i don't think any of the modern waif-like actresses mentioned would do for doreen.
as for esther, i hope that they at least keep her in the same age range as she is in the book. putting an older actress in would look incongruent. besides which, seeing julia stiles in mona lisa smile as a 1950s college girl just looked ridiculous. she has too much of a modern look and didn't fit. therefore putting her in another role with the 1950s college lifestyle would further be ridiculous.
Oh, I definitely agree. That's exactly how I pictured Doreen.
shareI kind of like someone like Evan Rachel Wood for Esther. And she's much closer in age.
share[deleted]
Doreen?
Nora-Jane Noone
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0928375/iid_1220491.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Noone%2C%20Nora-Jane&seq=12
She has a certain knowing look about her that would be perfect. Definately a brilliant actress too (magdalene sisters) She'd have to go harlot blonde though...
I`m reading the book and when i picture Esther,i picture Sylvia
i think a girl who looks like Sylvia and is a good actress would be great for the role
as for Doreen and Buddy,i don't know.
R.I.P John Lennon
1940~1980
For all those saying Maggie Gyllenhaal, you should know she recorded The Bell Jar for an audiobook. So, if you would like to hear Maggie as Esther, that's the closest thing.
"Everything was great before Hitler came along!"
For all those saying Maggie Gyllenhaal, you should know she recorded The Bell Jar for an audiobook. So, if you would like to hear Maggie as Esther, that's the closest thing.
"Plays aren't there 'til some *beep* writes 'em!"
For all those saying Maggie Gyllenhaal, you should know she recorded The Bell Jar for an audiobook. So, if you would like to hear Maggie as Esther, that's the closest thing.
"Plays aren't there 'til some a$$hole writes 'em!"
[deleted]