From her movie debut in 1994 as the scandalously precocious Mathilda in The Professional, to her jaw-dropping performance as exotic dancer Alice in 2004's Closer, to her Academy Award-winning turn as a self-destructive ballerina in Black Swan, Natalie Portman has never been one to shy away from a daring role. And it seems motherhood hasn't tempered her risk-taking as THR reports Portman is now attached to star in Lynne Ramsay's next possible feature, a western called Jane Got a Gun.
In Jane Got a Gun, Portman will play a married woman who is forced to make some tough choices after her outlaw husband returns to their family farm bullet-ridden and half-dead thanks to his mutinous gang. As his former criminal colleagues close in for the kill, she must ask for help from her former lover to help defend her farm, home and husband.
Memorably, Ramsay drove critics wild last winter with her controversial and challenging drama We Need to Talk About Kevin. In that film Tilda Swinton starred as a mother who despises her own child and so feels responsible when he grows into a horrendous and unrepentant serial killer. Despite the praise it garnered from critics and award ceremonies around the world, Kevin proved too dark and strange for the stodgy Academy, and so was totally ignored come Oscar time. Regardless, the haunting drama established Ramsay as a filmmaker to watch, and it's hard to imagine a better leading lady to front her follow-up than the remarkable and fearless Portman.
Already the film has sparked a bidding war at Cannes with numerous foreign distributors and financiers looking to secure a piece of this sure to be talked about feature. Also building buzz is Brian Duffield's original script, which scored a coveted spot on the Black List, a collection of the most popular unproduced screenplays floating about Hollywood. Nonetheless, the production is not set as the producers are still working out backing and such, but hopefully Portman's star power will calm the fears of skittish financiers and we'll get confirmations on this project soon.
