Natalie Portman to Play Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie

2 minute read

Jacqueline Kennedy was the epitome of dignity amid unspeakable pain in the days following her husband’s assassination in Dallas in 1963. And now, an Oscar-winning actress has been tapped to relive that historic time in a new movie about the woman who still enchants the nation.

Natalie Portman has signed on to play the former first lady in a new film titled Jackie, reports Variety.

Jackie talks about the days when Jackie Kennedy becomes an icon but has lost everything,” an insider involved in the production told the trade publication.

The film will be directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain and produced by Darren Aronofsky, who directed Portman in her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan. The film reportedly goes into production at the end of the year.

The 33-year-old actress – who is showing her directorial debut, A Tale of Love and Darkness, at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival – joins a long line of actresses who have portrayed the elegant icon, including Katie Holmes, Minka Kelly, Jill Hennessy and Jaclyn Smith.

Portman’s casting news comes on the heels of the announcement that the actress will play another powerful woman in American history: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.com

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