Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Yee-Haw! Natalie Portman To Star in Western

We’ve seen the talented Natalie Portman play all different kinds of roles, from Luke Skywalker’s mother Padme Amidala in “Star Wars” to ballerina Nina Sayers in “Black Swan” to the ill-fated Anne Boleyn in “The Other Boleyn Girl.” Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, we will be treated to seeing her star in a western.

A deal for making the film, titled “Jane Got a Gun,” is currently being brokered in Cannes. “The movie is still coming together, but sources say a bidding war has erupted in Cannes as CAA, which is packaging the project, has quietly shopped it around. Multiple financiers and foreign sales agents — all of whom are gathered on the Croisette for the film festival and market — are in the mix, along with several studios back in Los Angeles,” according to the exclusive report.

Portman is said to be set to produce, as well as star in, the film written by Brian Duffield, which will be directed by Lynne Ramsay. Its story centers on a woman (Portman’s character) with an outlaw husband, who shows up at home full of gunshot wounds. When his gang tracks him down in an effort to finish him off, the wife finds herself reaching out to an ex-lover for help in defending her farm.

This western project sound sounds like it could very well lead to another Oscar nomination for Portman. And should she not win, the Academy would likely not be forgiven…at least by the actress’s many fans.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.