Development The film's script, written by
Noah Oppenheim, was conceived as an
HBO miniseries, covering the "four days between
John F. Kennedy's assassination and his
burial, showing Jackie at both her most vulnerable and her most graceful".
Steven Spielberg was originally set to produce the series, but later left the project.
Pablo Larraín, not typically inclined to directing biopics, was initially hesitant to direct
Jackie when he was offered the opportunity. He stated that although he did not have any history or knowledge about John F. Kennedy's assassination, he connected with Jacqueline Kennedy.
Pre-production In April 2010, it was announced that
Rachel Weisz would star in the titular role, with
Darren Aronofsky set to direct and produce the film, from Oppenheim's script. However, both Weisz and Aronofsky dropped out after they ended their romantic relationship. The same year,
Steven Spielberg showed interest in helming the film. Then in September 2012, without a director,
Fox Searchlight Pictures started courting
Natalie Portman to star in the film as
Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy, hoping that her participation would bring back Aronofsky, although Portman's involvement was contingent on which director signed on. At the
65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015,
Pablo Larraín was approached by Aronofsky to direct the film, after he was impressed by the former's
The Club. Larraín was skeptical, and asked Aronofsky why he wanted a Chilean man who was not fond of biopics to helm the film. In May 2015, Portman was confirmed to star in the film. That same month, Larraín was hired to direct the film, with Aronofsky working as a producer.
Casting undertook immense research of Kennedy in preparation for her role.
Natalie Portman was approached to star in the film in September 2012, but her casting was not confirmed until May 2015. She also read around twenty of her "pulpy" biographies, which she did not consider high literature. Her primary source was the seven-part eight-and-a-half-hour
Life magazine interview conducted in the early part of 1964, by
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. with Kennedy. One of three interviews she gave following her husband's assassination, it was kept private throughout her life. Portman said she was intimidated at first, and her initial knowledge of Kennedy was just a "superficial understanding of [Kennedy] as a fashion plate." But through playing her in the film, Portman gained a deeper understanding of the former first lady. While doing research, she found out that Kennedy had two personas in front of different people – a debutante in public but feisty behind closed doors. "When she was doing interviews, [her voice] was a lot more girly and soft, and then when you hear her talking to Schlesinger at home, you hear the ice in the glass clinking and the voice is a little deeper and her wit comes out more, so you get this real sense of the two sides." She has also said that the costumes helped her to get into character. Portman is one of many actors to have portrayed Kennedy in cinema and on television, following
Divine,
Jaclyn Smith,
Sarah Michelle Gellar,
Roma Downey,
Jill Hennessy,
Joanne Whalley, Kat Steffens,
Jacqueline Bisset,
Jeanne Tripplehorn,
Parker Posey,
Blair Brown,
Katie Holmes,
Victoria Beckham,
Ginnifer Goodwin,
Stephanie Romanov and
Minka Kelly.
Casting director Mathilde Snodgrass had difficulty in finding an actor to play John F. Kennedy. (She chose a non-actor she saw on a French news broadcast to play Ted Kennedy.) After failing to find one in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Paris, Snodgrass began searching in northern Europe and found Danish actor
Caspar Phillipson.
Filming Principal photography on the film began in December 2015 in the
Paris-area studio
Cité du Cinéma, where most of the interior scenes were shot. Production designer Rabasse and set decorator Melery oversaw replication of the White House rooms. In February 2016, production moved to
downtown Washington, D.C., where JFK's
funeral procession scenes were filmed.
Music Mica Levi composed the film's accompanying score. ==Release==