Jessica Chastain

Jessica Michelle Chastain (born 24 March 1977) is an American actress and producer.

Quotes



 * I’ll be the first unknown that everyone’s going to be sick of … People will say, “We have no idea what her name is, but she is everywhere!" … I did Salomé with Al Pacino, The Tree of Life with Terrence Malick, and all these films that were interesting and had great characters. But because they were so interesting, perhaps the directors had more control of them. They take their time, they’re not on a schedule.
 * As quoted in "Hollywood's hidden treasure: Jessica Chastain interview" by Sheryl Garratt, in The Daily Telegraph (24 September 2011)


 * I don’t want to torture anything. … it’s about trying to live a life where I’m not contributing to the cruelty in the world. … While I am on this planet, I want everyone I meet to know that I am grateful they are here.
 * On her veganism and lifestyle in a PETA press statement, as quoted in "PETA Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities 2012: Jessica Chastain And Woody Harrelson Win Celebrity Contest" by Tara Kelly, in The Huffington Post (29 June 2012)

Vulture interview (2014)

 * "Jessica Chastain on Cannes, Her Wonderful Facebook Page, and Having to Keep Interstellar Secrets" by Jada Yuan, in Vulture (22 May 2014)


 * We saw the choices. The audience will be given the opportunity. They can see Him and Her, or they can see Them. … Well, for the cinephiles and the people who really want to commit, I would definitely say, “See Him and Her.” It’s the full experience. … I’ve always thought Him and Her. But it’s funny, in Toronto, when Harvey Weinstein saw the film for the first time, he saw Her and Him, and he was determined. He was like, “That’s how it has to be seen!” So it depends.
 * On her role in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013-2014), written and directed by Ned Benson


 * I was on the set of Tree of Life. He was with me, and he asked me [if I] would play Eleanor Rigby in his film. And I said, “Yes, but it’s so much the male perspective,” [whispers] like the majority of films that are made. I said, “I’d like to know more about the woman. I’d like to know her perspective as well.” So he went and he wrote Her. And it was very collaborative because every day as he’d write, I’d be working, and I’d come back and he’d ask me questions about sisters or whatnot and how women talk with each other, and I found that to be really exciting. … he was the full writer. I was his bounce board. Not story things, because that’s the main part of the film, but just things like, you know, cutting the hair. You know, because girls, we all tell each other, “Don’t cut your hair when you’re pregnant, don’t cut your hair when you have a breakup or when a tragedy happens.” It’s something that we like to do when we’re in an emotional place for some reason. Right? But that’s something that a man may not know, that’s inherently female. And so it was my idea, I wanted Eleanor to cut her hair off, because then it connects to then her disappearing herself as well.


 * I can’t say ANYTHING. Everyone knows pretty much who I’m playing.
 * On her role in Interstellar (2014)

Quotes about Chastain

 * A quirk of fate has put Chastain in a unique position. She is 30 now, and having worked solidly since leaving drama school with an impressive roster of A-list names, she is probably the most successful actress that no one has ever heard of. … This is about to change: over the next few months Chastain has so much coming out that she worries about being overexposed.
 * Sheryl Garratt, in "Hollywood's hidden treasure: Jessica Chastain interview", in The Daily Telegraph (24 September 2011)


 * Long before the #MeToo movement started, I was very upset when Jessica Chastain made statements against the film Last Tango in Paris. If you listen to her, that film should never have been made. To listen to her, Maria Schneider was raped. But Jessica Chastain wasn’t there, and it’s not true — I was on set. The scene was fiction.
 * Catherine Breillat, in "Actress Asia Argento, Director Catherine Breillat Trade Barbs In Heated Exchange", in Deadline (30 March 2018)