Apple is making an original series with Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson

Apple has tapped actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld to play 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson in an upcoming original series.

The series will focus on Emily Dickinson’s early years and is billed as a coming-of-age comedy that “explores the constraints of society, gender and family from the perspective of a budding writer who doesn’t fit into her own time through her imaginative point of view.”

Very excited about this. https://t.co/jRl6bYcei9

— Hailee Steinfeld (@HaileeSteinfeld) May 30, 2018

The Affair screenwriter Alena Smith will write the show, while David Gordon Green, who helmed Pineapple Express and Stronger, will direct.

Dickinson is generally regarded to be one of America’s finest poets, having written nearly 1,800 poems in her lifetime. However, she lived a very reclusive life that resulted in much of her work not becoming published until after her death in 1886.

Steinfeld, meanwhile, is best known for her Academy Award-winning performance in True Grit, as well as the Pitch Perfect series. She also received significant acclaim for her starring role in 2016’s Edge of Seventeen, another coming-of-age story.

Dickinson is one of many original series that Apple has been revealed over the past several months to be developing. While Apple has avoided to give any details on its plans, reports suggest that the company is planning to release a slate of 12 original series by March 2019.

Some of the series Apple is said to be developing include a scripted comedy with Kristen Wiig, a revival of Steven Spielberg’s 1980s Amazing Stories anthology series and drama based on the childhood of NBA star Kevin Durant.

Altogether, Apple has reportedly set aside at least $1 billion to go towards original content endeavours.

Image credit: The Poetry Foundation

Via: Variety