Connor Storrie has officially been cast in The Bell Jar, and people are already furious

Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie has officially joined the cast of Sarah Polley’s upcoming film adaptation of The Bell Jar, and people already have a lot to say about it.

Focus Features, the film’s distributors, initially caused a stir back in March when they announced that Billie Eilish would be starring as Sylvia Plath’s protagonist, Esther Greenwood, marking her film acting debut.

Now, alongside Connor, she is set to be joined by a host of other famous faces, including Carey Mulligan, portraying Esther’s mother, and Danielle Deadwyler, playing her psychiatrist, Dr Nolan.

Connor himself is set to play Marco, a villainous “woman-hater” who Esther encounters during a country club dance that quickly goes sideways due to his misogynistic and abusive behaviour.

Sarah Polley’s The Bell Jar is facing backlash for casting Connor Storrie

 

 

 

 

 

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Since its announcement back in March, The Bell Jar has been the target of endless memes and Twitter troll posts for its casting choices. Most notably, the decision to cast Billie Eilish as the lead character despite her lack of significant acting experience has been met with confusion by many. 

The reaction Connor’s casting announcement is no different, with social media users in a frenzy over since the news was announced last night. While some (namely Heated Rivalry fans) are excited to see him step into another major project, others have questioned his casting as a character who was depicted as Peruvian in the original source material.

“Connor Storrie as Marco?” one user took to Reddit to say. “Isn’t Marco described as Peruvian in the book? If so this a perfect example of the industry. A role that could have been given to a POC goes to a white man.”

A fellow Reddit user added: “Yeah, very typical for them to cast a white man who can do an accent in a Latino role over a Latino actor. Only five per cent of roles in film last year btw.”

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Others criticised Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar instead of the casting

 

 

 

 

 

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However, others have pointed out that Sylvia Plath’s original novel has drawn much criticism for its portrayal of non-white characters. This includes the book’s depiction of Marco, the sole Latino character, as an abuser and sexual predator, which has been denounced for playing into racist stereotypes. 

A user in another Reddit thread was quick to highlight this, saying: “It’s beyond typical of Hollywood to cast a white man instead of a minority actor, but the character was also a laughably racist caricature.” 

The 1967 book follows a young woman, Esther, moving to New York to intern at a magazine and eventually experiencing a mental breakdown. While the semi-autobiographical novel is widely regarded as a modern classic, it is also notorious for its problematic language and themes, particularly regarding race.

These issues have led some to question whether a film adaptation should be made at all. In the same thread, another commenter argued: “There’s a lot of instances of racism in the original. So their choices are to either whitewash Plath’s racism, or keep it in and perpetuate those racist notions. This is honestly such an unnecessary adaptation.”

So far, Connor has not publicly spoken about his latest role, although it has been confirmed that production on The Bell Jar has now wrapped. No official release date has been announced.

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Featured image via Instagram @hudsonwilliamsofficial