Who is Jessica Chastain?
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 10:00AM Here's pretty much all that we know about her: She was raised in North Carolina, she just turned 30, she's in every seventh movie opening in 2011, and though we've only seen three of them thus far (The Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter) it takes a minute in each to realize that yes, that's her. Even in photoshoots she seems to be more than one person.
Is she a moldable young starlet?
Is she a Swintonesque Off-Hollywood provocateur?
Is she a Lead Star just waiting for her own vehicles?
Further IMDb and Wikipedia grazing reveals that she graduated from Juillard and that her best friend is the actress Jess Weixler (of Teeth fame. How about that?) but the point is this: we like people we can't pin down immediately.
I don't want to play the same character twice. There's something about the feeling of 'I don't think I can do this.' If you have that moment of doubt, you have to rise up and meet it. I learn from my failures more than my successes."
-Chastain to Michael Musto at the premiere of The Debt
Hitting a Take Shelter screening last night I tweeted "Okay, Jessica Chastain. Show me what else ya got" Of her three summer performances (her fourth The Debt opens soon) it's the least impressive but it's almost the most telling. 'What I got' was the surest indication yet that she's a future Oscar winner as she embraced their favorite role, the long suffering wind-beneath-her-husband's-wings type, with such unfussy naturalistic ease.
Regarding Oscar...
While she's ethereal and lovely in The Tree of Life it seems less an acting feat than a well judged minimalist act to allow Terrence Malick and Emmanuel Lubezki's camera and the rich scoring to fill her Way of Grace with meaning. Auteur vessel performance are rarely nominated. While she's hugely entertaining in The Help she probably has too much internal competition for traction. And her most Oscar-friendly role in Take Shelter is within a film that one suspects will be too under the radar for Oscar. She may have to wait for the Kodak theater but it'll be exciting to watch her work her way there.
Reader Comments (16)
How was the rest of the movie?
Good aricle. After watching The Tree Of Life i was wondering 'Who was that fantastic female lead"? Looking on IMDB, and her name didnt ring thr bell. And just a few days ago someone was posting, quite randomly, posts about movies and her name showed up here and there and was thinking 'Am i missing something'? Thanks for the answer, and yeah she's not easy to recognize.
"Is she a moldable young starlet?
Is she a Swintonesque Off-Hollywood provocateur?
Is she a Lead Star just waiting for her own vehicles?"
I think she is all of these things. I also think she's the most exciting new actress working. Her face is incredible, as is the range she exhibits for being on the scene for such a short time. You MUST see her in "The Debt." She's fantastic. And vastly different from what she brought in "The Help" and "The Tree of Life." She's the only real reason to see the movie. All of its emotion is in her performance.
I actually loved her in Take Shelter. I thought her performance as supportive-but-equally-challenging wife was fresh, naturalistic, and filled with more emotion than either of her other wonderful performances. I think that is solidified by her work at the climax of the film. She is what sells that big moment, not Michael Shannon - who is also wonderful. I think I just really liked that movie.
Nat, did you see her interview by Anne Thomspon? I was just watching that yesterday. Jessica shares many insightful thoughts on acting and her developing career. She is promising to say the least. A definite Oscar winner type:
Jessica Chastain's interview
An interesting quote from her with respect to how she feels about her movies coming out all around the same time:
Rarely do I love the new girl on the block but her performance in The Help actually anchored the film for me in a way the other actresses couldn't -- particularly because she was the most different and interesting from eveyone else who filled their proper spaces.
She and Emma Stone seem the ones destined to be around for awhile ... they both are excellent actresses.
I also suggest you hunt down the photo EW ran with its piece on Chastain in this week's issue. It's perfect for your current banner. :-)
She's excellent in The Debt as the younger Helen Mirren character. She shares some very memorable scenes with Sam Worthington (who is surprisingly good in the movie). Looking forward to discovering more films with Jessica!
I was just talking to someone about Ms. Chastain last evening and how I was truly surprised by her look and performance in THE HELP - it felt very different from her work in THE TREE OF LIFE and the clips I've seen for THE DEBT. Then they asked me if I thought this was our new Meryl Streep? What do you think?
Dunaway's career ended because of sexist double standards in Hollywood which say that Mel Gibson can be forgiven but the Faye Dunaway-s of the business must be dismissed the moment they fuck up (Mommie Dearest).
For anyone that knows -- What does Dunaway think of Lange?
I don't know what's going on with your website but I'll get my posts in where ever they are accepted.
Hard to believe she's that young. I figure it's because I've only seen her in The Tree of Life and thus experienced her vicariously as very motherly. And on that note I can't tell you how inappropriate I feel about the thoughts that that middle picture gives me.
Jessica Chastain has the most movie movie-face since Liv Ullman.
So I guess the answer to the question "Who is Jessica Chastain?" according to Robert is, a MILF :p
I'm curious to see what she does next. I think she has the looks and the abilites to be great. (by "looks" I mean cinematically, but yes, she's pretty too)
She's great in Take Shelter, even if it's a 'supporting wife' role. And I couldn't believe how happy I was when she showed up in The Help. I must be in (actressexual) love, as I'm even contemplating seeing The Debt now, and have another reason to anticipate Coriolanus (besides Vanessa Redgrave).
Like Michael Fassbender, I first saw her in an episode on Agatha Christie's Poirot, wherein she took over the Vanessa Redgrave role in Murder on the Orient Express. Her portrayal was much more hurt and vulnerable, an interesting take on the character. And now Coriolanus is giving us BOTH Mary Debenhams! It's too exciting!