Kirsten Dunst’s ‘The Bell Jar’ Casts Jesse Plemons Opposite Dakota Fanning

According to IndieWire, Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel The Bell Jar will be the premise for Kirsten Dunst’s (Marie Antoinette) directorial debut, with Jesse Plemons (TV’s Friday Night Lights) starring alongside the already announced Dakota Fanning. The novel surrounds Esther Greenwood during a trip to New York City over the summer. She was traumatized by the death of her father and she arrives in New York City to take on an internship at a famed magazine. She becomes mentally unstable once she meets and befriends her fellow intern, Doreen, who is rebellious as opposed to Esther who cannot adapt to life after her father’s death.

It has been confirmed that Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) will play as Esther and Jesse Plemons (Fargo) will be Lenny Shepherd, a rich man who gets in the way of Esther’s friendship with Doreen who has not yet been cast.

Plemons has a big year coming up in 2017, appearing in The Discovery with Rooney Mara, American Made with Tom Cruise, and Hostiles with Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike. Plemons also starred opposite Dunst last year in the second season of the FX series Fargo. Dunst is also writing the screenplay for The Bell Jar along with Nellie Kim. The film production will begin in early 2017.