Hollywood A-lister Felicity Jones is set to star as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the forthcoming biopic On the Basis of Sex.
The film, which will begin shooting in Canada in September, follows “the travels of Ginsburg as she faced numerous obstacles to her fight for equal rights throughout her career,” according to Deadline, which first reported the story.
Mimi Leder (Pay It Forward, Deep Impact) will direct the film from a script written by Daniel Stiepleman. Natalie Portman was previously attached to play Ginsburg. Focus Features has been developing the project since 2015.
In 1993, Ginsburg became the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court. For nearly a quarter century, the now-84-year-old justice has been a committed leftist on the bench and has reliably advanced abortion protections and other left-wing causes.
U.S. President Bill Clinton poses with his nominee for the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg during a news conference in Washington D.C., on June 14, 1993. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, talks to Supreme Court nominee Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg prior to the start of her confirmation hearing before the committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, July 20, 1993 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Duricka)
Felicity Jones attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between exhibition on Monday, May 1, 2017, in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Jones’ casting, however is fitting given her feminist sensibilities, which were apparent in her role as Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
“I’ve always been a feminist, and what I love in my work is being able to explore a full-sided woman and not patronize her,” the actress told Glamour magazine in November. “Particularly with Jyn, it’s such a rare opportunity to be able to play a female who’s not just thinking about relationships.”
The Oscar-nominated British-born actress has also been a vocal critic of Hollywood’s problem of equal pay for women in the entertainment industry.
“I want to be paid fairly for the work that I’m doing. That’s what every single woman around the world wants,” Jones told the magazine. “We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position. And I think it’s important to talk about it.”
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