Portman to Direct Herself in Dual Role

Natalie Portman will be on both sides of the camera in her next project: She’ll direct herself in the dual role of rival advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail “Dear Abby: Van Buren” in an untitled movie biography.

The Israel-born actress, who made her directorial debut in her native Hebrew with “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” will play the Jewish twin writers, who were born Esther and Pauline Friedman in 1918.

Portman, whose most recent release was “Annihilation,” has completed the drama “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan,” which will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and “Vox Lux,” in which she plays a pop star opposite Jude Law. It’s set to debut at the Venice Film Festival next month.

Portman is currently filming “Pale Blue Dot,” in which she stars as an astronaut who loses touch with reality after returning from space.