Ella Beatty, star of the upcoming Netflix "Monster" instalment about Lizzie Borden, is in final talks to join Focus Features' film adaptation of Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", according to Deadline. She would join Billie Eilish, making her film acting debut as protagonist Esther Greenwood, and Carey Mulligan, who plays Esther's mother, though it is not yet known which role Beatty would take on.

"The Bell Jar" is Plath's only novel, a semi-autobiographical account of a young woman's mental breakdown first published in 1963, shortly before Plath's death by suicide; it has since been translated into more than 40 languages. Oscar winner Sarah Polley is directing from her own script, with Plan B, Studiocanal and Joy Coalition producing. Beatty, a Juilliard-trained actor recently seen in A24's "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" and on stage opposite Hugh Jackman, landed the Lizzie Borden role after an extensive multi-country casting search for the Ryan Murphy/Ian Brennan "Monster" franchise.