Actor Mary-Louise Parker has been roped in to star alongside Oscar winner Natalie Portman in HBO Films' The Days of Abandonment. The film is an adaptation of Italian author Elena Ferrante's 2005 bestselling novel of the same title.

Portman will star as Tess, a woman who sacrifices her dreams for a safe home life but gets abandoned by her husband. To be written and directed by Maggie Betts, the film is said to explore the mind of a woman in crisis.

Parker, known for movies like Grand Canyon, Fried Green Tomatoes and The Portrait of a Lady, will play an unnamed character. Her character is being called "Mysterious Woman", an attractive but elusive woman Tess starts seeing everywhere she goes, finally causing Tess to question her sanity.

Portman, who won the Oscars for her performance in the 2010 psychological drama Black Swan, will also serve as executive producer for the project. HBO Films produces the film in collaboration with Medusa.