Natalie Portman Insisted on Female Director for Ruth Bader Ginsburg Film, Justice Says

"It held up the project for a while," says Ginsburg.

Natalie Portman has an objection to the gender disparity among working Hollywood directors.

The actress is in negotiations to play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an upcoming biopic, and Ginsburg recently revealed that the project's progress was delayed because Portman had been holding out for a female director.

"Natalie Portman came to talk to me about [the film landing a female director], and we had a very good conversation," Ginsburg said at an American Constitution Society convention panel Saturday, according to MSNBC.

"And one thing, interesting, that she insisted on, it held up the project for a while," Ginsburg continued. "She said, 'I want the director to be a woman. There are not enough women in this industry. There are many talented out there.' And now they do have a woman director."

The wait appears to have been worthwhile; Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl) is in talks to direct the film, which has a Black List script by Daniel Stiepleman. The plot covers the entirety of the Ginsburg's legal career.

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