Billie Eilish continued filming the movie adaptation of Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar in Toronto on Tuesday for her big screen acting debut. The 24-year-old star plays Esther Greenwood, a 19-year-old college student who falls into depression after taking a magazine internship in New York City in 1953. Eilish threw herself into the role for another day of filming, looking straight out of another era.
Long gone were her signature baggy clothing items. In their place was a costume consisting of a blue dress, matching hat, bold red lipstick and curly hairstyle that transformed her into a 1950s college student. The look left her unrecognizable even to her most die-hard fans as she took the role very seriously.
Eilish, whose character travels from Boston to the Big Apple, appeared studious and focused as she waited for one of New York City's iconic yellow taxis. Her appearance on set contrasted sharply with her usual wardrobe of loose-fitting T-shirts and trousers.
She previously revealed to Elle why she chooses unconventionally baggy looks, unlike hyper-feminine peers such as Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae. Eilish explained that she experiences "gender euphoria" when styling herself in oversized looks and men's apparel.
"I had a really, really toxic relationship with my body. I had a lot of eating issues. I remember putting on, like, a big shirt and the relief that I felt," she told Elle. She listed hip-hop stars Missy Elliott and Tyler, The Creator among her style icons, noting that her "love for hip-hop culture and wanting to be a man" influenced her aesthetic.
"This is the misogyny that we all have within us…which is that I didn't want to be seen as feminine, and therefore weak. It's not right. I've found a good way of not feeling like that," Eilish said.
The Bell Jar plot and cast
In Sylvia Plath's story, Esther lands a glamorous internship in New York City in 1953 before her clinical depression leads to a suicide attempt and hospitalization. Esther undergoes ECT shock therapy on a quest to forge an identity in an oppressive patriarchal society. The title of the book serves as a metaphor for the sense of suffocation brought on by the main character's precarious mental state.
Similarly, Eilish has been open throughout her career about her own struggles with depression, anxiety and self-harm.
The Bell Jar is Polley's fifth directorial feature, following 2022's Women Talking, 2012's Stories We Tell, 2011's Take This Waltz, and 2006's Away from Her. Carey Mulligan has joined the cast as Eilish's mother, according to Variety. Heated Rivalry sensation Connor Storrie is also rumored to have a role in the film, according to Variety.
Sylvia Plath background and concert film
Sylvia Plath's novel has long been believed to be semi-autobiographical. Plath was offered an internship at Mademoiselle in 1953 before becoming a patient at the upscale McLean Hospital, and she took her own life at age 30. The posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner published her only book in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas before her real name was attached to it.
While The Bell Jar marks her acting debut, Eilish has appeared on the big screen before. She is the focus of Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), a concert film directed by James Cameron that was released theatrically on May 8 earlier this year.
Eilish co-directed that project with Oscar-winner James Cameron, the director behind epics like Titanic and Avatar. The movie documents her seventh headlining tour of the same name, which ran from September 2024 to November 2025.
