Natalie Portman To Play Twin Sister Advice Columnists — And She’ll Direct The Movie, Too
(From left:) Dear Abby/Pauline Friedman, Natalie Portman, Ann Landers/Esther Friedman Image by GETTY IMAGES/FORWARD MONTAGE
Crown Princess of the World and Jew of Extraordinary Fame Natalie Portman will play the twin sisters and advice columnists who went by the names “Dear Abby” and “Ann Landers” in a movie that she will direct herself.
Good grief.
Setting aside our bitterness that Portman will likely achieve this daunting feat while remaining ludicrously thin and French-looking, this is thrilling news. Real-life twins Esther and Pauline Friedman, born 1918, became American institutions after holding dueling advice columns for decades under the names “Ann Landers” (Esther) and “Dear Abby” (Pauline). Portman mildly resembles the twins in their early years, and her decision to cast herself in Jewish roles is, while not uncharacteristic of her, exciting. As we see a trend of non-Jewish actors playing specifically Jewish characters — see: Oscar Isaac as a Mossad spy, etcetera — it’s nice to see Portman elect to tell Jewish stories.
Plus, this could be her version of “Parent Trap.”
Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.