EXCLUSIVE: Fox Searchlight, which distributed the Natalie Portman-starrer Black Swan, is courting Portman to come back into the fold and play the title character in Jackie, the Noah Oppenheim-scripted drama about Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
This project has an interesting past. Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz, then a couple, planned to do it together. Aronofsky, who helmed Black Swan, dropped out when he and Weisz split and she has since fallen out as well. Portman likes the script but her participation will depend on who the director is. If Aronofsky came back, that would be easy, but nothing in Hollywood works out that way, does it? There had been a report that Steven Spielberg was intrigued back in 2010, so it’s not inconceivable that Fox Searchlight will find a director who pleases Portman. I think she is an inspired choice for the role.