Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) wanted Angelina Jolie to play the lead role in his upcoming film, Gravity. However, she turned him down, not once but twice.
Now the Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Business blog reports he is after Natalie Portman: "Cuaron finally got the green light from the studio to relay the offer to Portman without requiring a screen test. Portman (sic) is expected to read the latest version of the script this week and make her decision shortly."
The $80 million, 3D sci-fi epic revolves around a female astronaut who gets stuck on a space station after debris crashes into it and kills the rest of the crew. The lone survivor must fight her way back to Earth.
Robert Downey Jr. has long been signed on in a supporting role. Alfonso Cuarón and his brother, Jonas, co-wrote the script.
Other actresses have gone the screen test route but did not make the grade, including Marion Cotillard, Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively.
There is Oscar buzz around Natalie Portman after she received rave reviews for her performance in Swan. The thriller is directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Portman as a "ambitious but psychologically fragile ballet dancer."