Beanie Feldstein signs on for Ethan Coen's new solo project

Beanie Feldstein is making the move from Funny Girl to solo brother, apparently, with Deadline reporting that the Booksmart star has signed on to the new solo directing project from Ethan Coen.

Plot details about the film are being kept under wraps, although previous descriptions of the movie—which Coen wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke, several years ago—have described it as a road trip “action comedy” about a pair of young lesbians on the run. (These days, it’s being mostly reported on as “Untitled Ethan Coen project,” including in recent casting notices for the film that went up in Philadelphia.)

Honestly, though, the most notable thing about the movie remains its status as a solo Coen project; it’ll be Ethan Coen’s first major such effort, after his brother Joel broke out on his own with last year’s The Tragedy Of Macbeth. The prolific duo have said that they absolutely intend to collaborate with each other again, but are simply pursuing projects that appeal to their individual interests after literal decades of working in tandem.

Feldstein is fresh off her (controversially truncated) run on the Broadway production of Funny Girl; her previous credits in recent years include a starring role as Monica Lewinsky in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: Impeachment, as well as a voice role in AppleTV+’s Harriet The Spy show. (We also have to remind ourselves that she’s one of the stars of Richard Linklater’s hyper-ambitious adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along, which is supposed to continue filming through the next 18 or so years, Boyhood style.) This new project will mark her first collaboration with either of the Coens; she joins a cast that also reportedly includes Margaret Qualley. The film will reportedly start filming some time this fall.