When Natalie Portman won her Oscar last year, she was in the midst of a pregnancy which kept her – voluntarily – out of the acting world for over a year.
We already know that she will be returning, albeit somewhat reluctantly, as the romantic lead in Thor 2, but if she wants to get back to the high profile, ‘darling of Hollywood’ position she enjoyed a couple years ago, she needs to land some starring roles.
The first of these may come from Lana and Andy Wachowski. The duo is currently putting the final touches on their latest film, Cloud Atlas. Subsequently, team Wachowski plans to immediately kick off development for their first fully original film since the Matrix franchise ended, Jupiter Rising.
Not much is known about Jupiter Rising other than that it will be a futuristic science fiction film. Apparently, the Wachowskis are looking at Portman to lead the cast. This would be a definite return to her pop culture roots, as she initially became spotlit (though not unknown before) by her roles in the second Star Wars trilogy.
Portman previously worked with the Wachowskis on V for Vendetta, an adaptation of a popular Alan Moore graphic novel, where she played the female lead.
No word from Portman as to whether she’s interested, and the decision will likely rest on what direction she wants to take her career. If Portman accepts the role, she might let herself get trapped as a genre actor, never again offered a serious dramatic role, but many a great actor have made careers out of starring in one genre film after another.
Portman is also planning on spending some time on her activist passions, which include veganism, and may even shoot a documentary based on the subject.
Jupiter Rising has no official synopsis yet, and lacks set production and release dates.
