Mary-Louise Parker joins Natalie Portman in 'The Days of Abandonment', based on Elena Ferrante's novel

LOS ANGELES: Actor Mary-Louise Parker will feature alongside Oscar winner Natalie Portman in HBO Films' 'The Days of Abandonment'. The film is an adaptation of Italian author Elena Ferrante's 2005 bestselling novel of the same title, reported Variety.

Portman will star as Tess, a woman who abandons her own dreams for a stable home life but is in turn abandoned by her husband.

To be written and directed by Maggie Betts, the movie will delve into the mind of a woman in crisis, who "confronts the norms of motherhood and female identity as Tess traverses the darkest reaches of her own psyche".


Parker, known for movies like 'Grand Canyon', 'Fried Green Tomatoes' and 'The Portrait of a Lady', will play an unnamed character.

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Her character is being called 'Mysterious Woman', a mesmerising but elusive woman Tess starts encountering everywhere she goes, causing Tess to question her sanity.

Portman, who won an Oscar for her performance in 2010 psychological drama 'Black Swan', will also serve as executive producer alongside Betts, Ferrante, Sophie Mas, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, Len Amato, Domenico Procacci and Maria Zuckerman.

HBO Films will produce the movie in collaboration with Medusa.