By James White | Posted 26 Jul 2018

Having made her feature directorial debut with 2015's A Tale Of Love And Darkness, Natalie Portman is looking for something a little lighter as her directing/starring follow-up. She's now in talks to direct an untitled film about identical twin sisters Ann Ester and Pauline Friedman, who both entered the advice column industry across the pond.

According to Collider, Portman is close to a deal to direct and play both sisters, which will present an interesting challenge in terms of tackling the dual role, the tricks needed to have them share the screen and adding directing on top of it all.

Born in Iowa in 1918, Eppie (Esther) and Popo (Pauline), as they were nicknamed, were close growing up, working together at Morningside College’s school newspaper and participating in a double marriage ceremony on their 21st birthday. However, once Eppie accepted a position as the Ann Landers advice columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, Pauline decided to start her own column, which she called Dear Abby. This created a bitter sibling rivalry, and while the two eventually reconciled in 1964, their rift continued for decades, until Eppie died in 2002. Their daughters, instead of burying the hatchet, kept the feud alive.

There's no date for the film to start shooting yet, but Portman would work from a script by The Affair's Katie Robbins. The actress is at work on Noah Hawley's astronaut drama Pale Blue Dot and has worked on The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan and Vox Lux.

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