casting

Portman, Bardem, Renner Wooed for Counselor

HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Actress Natalie Portman arrives at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Natalie Portman
HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Actress Natalie Portman arrives at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Natalie Portman Photo: Ethan Miller/2011 Getty Images

Natalie Portman may be ready to return to ubiquity. The Oscar-winning actress took some time off to raise her first child, but she’s got plenty of projects slated to shoot later this year — including a Thor sequel and two Terrence Malick films — and now Twitch reports that Ridley Scott is in talks with her to play the female lead of The Counselor, his Cormac McCarthy–scripted film that already has Michael Fassbender slated to star. What’s more, Javier Bardem and Jeremy Renner are said to be circling a role, too. If both of those men are up against each other, doesn’t McCarthy kind of owe Bardem for making him wear that No Country for Old Men bowl cut?

Portman, Bardem, Renner Wooed for Counselor