US actress Scarlett Johansson (39, “Black Widow”) wants to bring a number of well-known actors on board for her planned directorial debut. In addition to June Squibb (“Nebraska”), Briton Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”, “Baby to Go”), Jessica Hecht (“Fair Game – Nothing is more dangerous than the truth”) and Erin Kellyman (“Solo – A Star Wars Story”) to star in “Eleanor the Great”, as the industry publication “Variety” reported.
The film is about a 90-year-old named Eleanor Morgenstein (Squibb), who gives up her decades-long life in Florida after a death and moves back to New York alone. The 94-year-old Squibb, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2014 for her supporting role in the road movie “Nebraska,” most recently played a grandmother who takes revenge on a con artist in the comedy-action drama “Thelma.”
Johansson has been nominated for an Oscar twice as a lead actress in “Marriage Story” and as a supporting actress in “Jojo Rabbit.” She most recently starred in “Asteroid City” directed by Wes Anderson and in the directorial debut “North Star” by Brit Kristin Scott Thomas. Nothing was initially known about when “Eleanor the Great” would begin filming.
