Felicity Jones is about to take a leap out of the Star Wars franchise and head straight for the courtroom in a new biopic focusing on only one of a few female Supreme Court Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in On the Basis of Sex.
Jones will play Ginsburg in the film which is to be directed by The Leftover’s Mimi Leder from a script written by Daniel Stiepleman who is the nephew of Ginsburg’s late Husband, Martin. Shooting is due to commence in Montreal in September.
Initially, Natalie Portman was attached to play the role and in 2015 Ginsburg revealed that Portman had approached her about the film;
“Natalie Portman came to talk to me about this, and we had a very good conversation,” Ginsburg told her former clerk, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, at the American Constitution Society convention.
“And one thing, interesting, that she insisted on, it held up the project for awhile. She said, ‘I want the director to be a woman. There are not enough women in this industry. There are many talented out there.’ And now they do have a woman director.”
Ginsburg, who is currently in her 80’s and still acting as an associate justice along with two other female justices was first appointed to the supreme court in 1993 by the then President Bill Clinton becoming only the second female justice. Her time wasn’t easy in her position, as a woman, she had to fight many obstacles for equal rights throughout her career. As far back as 1960, although coming with a strong recommendation she was turned down for a clerkship position due to her gender.
During her subsequent testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the confirmation hearings, Ginsburg answered questions on some potentially controversial issues. For instance, she affirmed her belief in a constitutional right to privacy and explained at some length her personal judicial philosophy and thoughts regarding gender equality.
