Billie Eilish in talks to make movie acting debut in ‘The Bell Jar’
Billie Eilish attends the 2024 Oscars (Disney/Chris Willard)
After winning multiple Oscars for movie songs, Billie Eilish may get a chance to compete in the acting categories.
ABC Audio has learned that Billie is in talks to make her film debut in an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Plath, a poet and author who died by suicide at age 30, wrote The Bell Jar in 1963 under a pseudonym. The semi-autobiographical novel was published a month before her death.
Oscar winner Sarah Polley will write the screenplay and direct the film; it’s not clear which role Billie will play.
Deadline was the first to report the news.
Billie got good reviews for her acting debut, which came in the 2023 Prime Video series Swarm. Her concert documentary HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D), which she co-directed with James Cameron, arrives in theaters May 8.
Poster for ‘Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story’ (ABC News Studios)
The story of Pat Summitt, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer best known for coaching women’s basketball at the University of Tennessee, has been told in many ways. This time, it’s being brought to life through a documentary directed by Dawn Porter and produced by Robin Roberts’ production company, Rock’n Robin Productions. With an impact that has been felt for decades, Roberts explains why now is the right time to share Summitt’s story in this way.
“People need to know,” she tells ABC Audio. “People are excited about the WNBA, March Madness, Unrivaled, they need to know that it might not have happened [were] it not for someone like Pat Summitt. So just to give a history lesson to folks, I think that is the right time to do it.”
“It is March Madness, it is Women’s History Month. It’ll be 10 years in June that she passed away from Alzheimer’s,” she continues. “So I think it was the perfect storm in giving her her flowers.”
Breaking Glass, The Pat Summitt Story, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+,chronicles Pat’s journey from her humble upbringing on a Tennessee dairy farm to her record-setting career at the University of Tennessee, where she won 1,098 games and eight national championships. The film offers an in-depth look at both the challenges she faced, and the lasting impact she made on and off the court.
With so much ground to cover, Dawn says the responsibility she felt in telling Pat’s story grew as she learned more about her, but she was fortunately met with support from her family, ESPN, the University of Tennessee and more.
Her goal was to understand why Pat was so deeply loved. What she learned: “Pat saw everybody as people and I think she was really, really instrumental in making that a unified experience where everybody was welcome.”
The film will premiere Sunday on ESPN2 and April 5 on ESPN.
In this Jan. 19, 2010 photo, Timothy Busfield attends a premiere in New York. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images, FILE)
Timothy Busfield, an actor and director best known for his role as Danny Concannon on The West Wing, is facing charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child abuse, according to an arrest warrant out of New Mexico.
Busfield is accused of inappropriately touching a child actor on the set of The Cleaning Lady, a television series that Busfield directed and acted in, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News.
The actor faces two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, according to the arrest warrant issued Friday by the Albuquerque Police Department.
It’s unclear if the actor is currently in custody. ABC News reached out to Busfield via his agent and did not immediately hear back.
The actor denied the allegations when interviewed by investigators, the criminal complaint says.
According to court documents, the parents of the boy reported that the alleged abuse began in 2022 when the child was 7 years old.
The investigation began in November 2024, after a physician at University of New Mexico Hospital examined the child and notified police of suspected sexual abuse, according to the criminal complaint.
An officer interviewed the children’s parents, who told investigators that the minor and his twin brother were child actors, the criminal complaint says. The children did not report sexual abuse at the time, according to the complaint.
The victim’s mother later reported to child protective services that Busfield had allegedly sexually abused her son from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.
Attorneys for Warner Bros., which produced The Cleaning Lady, told police they previously conducted an independent investigation into the allegations but said they could not find evidence to support the claims at the time, according to the complaint.
In a statement provided to ABC News by a company spokesperson, Warner Bros. Television said: “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”
Busfield is married to actress Melissa Gilbert.
Court records for Busfield detailing an initial appearance or bond conditions were not immediately available.
Authorities said the case remains under investigation.
