Frances McDormand to star in Women Talking

Frances McDormand to star in Women Talking

Frances McDormand is set to star in 'Women Talking'.

The 63-year-old actress has boarded the cast of the new project, an adaptation of Miriam Toews' acclaimed novel of the same name.

Sarah Polley will write and direct the film with Frances serving as a producer through her Hear/Say Productions banner. The movie will be distributed by MGM's Orion Pictures and Plan B.

'Women Talking' follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony in Bolivia as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony's men. The novel was published in 2018 and was named Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review.

Michael De Luca, MGM's film group chairman, said: "We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Plan B with 'Women Talking'. Sarah and Frances collaborating to bring this incredible book to life on the big screen is something we are excited to be part of."

Frances is also set to star in 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' as Lady Macbeth in Joel Coen's new take on William Shakespeare's play. She feels that the project will differ from the play as the protagonists - herself and Denzel Washington as Macbeth - are older.

The Oscar-winning actress explained: "I think a very important thing about Joel's adaptation is that we are not calling it 'Macbeth'. We're calling it 'The Tragedy of Macbeth', which I think is an important distinction.

"In Joel's adaptation, we are exploring the age of the characters and in our adaptation the Macbeths are older.

"Both Denzel and I are older than what is often cast as the Macbeths. We're postmenopausal, we're past childbearing age. So that puts a pressure on their ambition to have the crown. I think the most important distinction is that it is their last chance for glory."