Natalie Portman is playing Jackie Kennedy in a new biopic, and we’re PUMPED
We thought we were done with exceptional Natalie Portman political casting news when we found out she’ll be playing Supreme Court Justice (and our feminist she-ro) Ruth Bader Ginsberg in an upcoming biopic, On the Basis of Sex. But oh, fabulous, glorious casting gods, how wrong we were.
In addition to playing RBG, Portman will also play Jackie Kennedy in Jackie, yet another fabulous upcoming biopic. Could there be (Chandler Bing inflection) two more amazing American female political icons to portray? Jackie is about the first four days after the assassination of her President John F. Kennedy, “when she lost the love of her life, but won the love of a nation,” reports Variety.
Those four days represent a moment when an already unbelievably respected first lady became a national hero and the rock of the nation, even while she was struggling through incredible loss. We think it’s SO fitting that such a classy lady will be playing . . . well, such a classy lady.
The film, which will be produced by Darren Aronofsky and directed by Pablo Larrain, will be going into production at the end of 2015. Natalie currently is at Cannes, presenting her directorial debut, A Tale of Love of Darkness, which is entirely in Hebrew . . . have we mentioned that she’s a total superstar? According to Variety, Natalie loved Larrain’s The Club, and Aronofsky directed Black Swan which Natalie starred in, so this collab makes a lot of sense.
“Jackie talks about the days when Jackie Kennedy becomes an icon but has lost everything,” Vincent Maravel, an insider involved in the production, told Variety. “It’s the Black Swan team reunited for Pablo Larrain.”
Of course, Natalie isn’t the first actress to portray Jackie Kennedy — as TIME notes, Katie Holmes, Minka Kelly, Jill Hennessy, and Jaclyn Smith have all portrayed the former First Lady, but we’re so excited to see Natalie as Jackie.
This is a project we’re thrilled about and a perspective on this historic moment that we’re eager to see. Natalie Portman’s presence in the picture only makes things that much sweeter.
