As a child, going to the movies was a treat for actress and producer Jessica Chastain. Growing up in Northern California with a vegan chef mother and fireman father, she didn’t have much money to spend on non-essentials. Nevertheless, Chastain watched a lot of television and savored any chance to head to the movie theater. On an episode of the Awards Chatter podcast, she explains how her world opened up when her grandmother took her to see her first play at age 7. From that moment on, she knew that acting was “who she was.” Though she hated school and struggled academically (which prevented her from performing in school plays), she entered and won a monologue contest in middle school. For the first time, people were seeing her impressive acting abilities.
Chastain developed a deep appreciation for William Shakespeare, reading his works any chance she could. In high school, her class saw a performance of Richard III at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which cemented her already-intense passion for performing. During her senior year, her father pulled together some money for her to go on the class trip to New York, where she immersed herself in theater and opera and visited Juilliard. It was not long after that trip that she auditioned and was accepted into the prestigious theater school on a full ride courtesy of the Robin Williams scholarship. Clearly, the school recognized her strong potential. It was there that she met her future co-star Oscar Isaac and developed an appreciation for foreign films. One of her fondest memories at school was seeing the erotic, psychological French drama The Piano Teacher starring Isabelle Huppert, a movie that deeply impacted and influenced her as an artist.
Not long after, Chastain helped bring the first Juilliard showcase to Los Angeles. Following the showcase, she signed a holding deal with John Wells Productions, where she appeared on a number of series and earned the coveted SAG card. Coming off of the high of the holding deal, however, Chastain went through a bit of a dry spell. While starring in the very low budget production of Rodney’s Wife, she was noticed by Marta Keller who recommended her to Al Pacino. Keller knew that Pacino was looking to fill the titular role alongside him in Salomé, and Chastain ended up being the perfect fit. “I made no money…but it completely changed my life,” adding, “Basically, Al Pacino was my acting teacher for a year.” Following this production, offers started pouring in. To give you an idea of how busy Chastain’s career became, she starred in six films that were released in 2011. The star’s grateful for her successful and varied career, having starred in everything from independent films like Jolene, to blockbusters Interstellar and The Martian, and recent critically-praised performances in projects such as Scenes from a Marriage, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. While she continues acting, her focus is on her production company Freckle Films, which gives opportunities and platforms to people that need them most.
Let’s take a look at some of Jessica Chastain’s best performances on the screen.
Mrs. O’Brien, The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life, written and directed by Terrence Malick is unlike any other film you’ve seen. It’s almost more of a quasi-nature documentary, but there’s also a regular narrative story, just not much dialogue. Nevertheless, the Palme d’Or winner is a work of art that will leave you pondering the same existential life questions that the characters within the story both pose to you and try to answer themselves. Chastain plays Mrs. O’Brien, a mother to three young boys and wife to an abusive husband (Brad Pitt). Both parents have conflicting ideas of the world and how their sons should approach life; the mother sees the natural world as a place of potential and wonder, while the father sees it as being filled with inevitable disappointment and hardship. Chastain embodies grace in her performance (which is exactly what her character wants for her children) and is able to convey exactly what she’s feeling by simply a blink of an eye. When Collider’s Steve Weintraub asked her what film she’d want someone to see first if they hadn’t seen any of her work yet, she without hesitation said it would be The Tree of Life. “It’s more than a film, it’s more than a performance. It’s like Terrence Malick wrote a poem…I can’t even really talk about it without getting emotional.”
Celia Foote, The Help
Another one of Chastain’s six films in 2011 was The Help, which follows Skeeter Pheelan (Emma Stone), an aspiring author during the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi who decides to write a book about the difficult lives of African American maids who work tirelessly for the wealthy white families that disrespect them. A delightful outlier from the hideous mistreatment is Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who goes out of her way to make sure that her maid Minny (Octavia Spencer) knows that she belongs. Because of her kind heart and assumptions about her past, Celia is shunned by the other white women of the community. What’s especially great about Celia is that she never patronizes Minny when attempting to make her feel at home. Much to Minny’s confusion, Celia actually wants to emulate her. In a movie that focuses on the horrific ways African American maids were treated, Chastain’s performance is a smiling ray of sunshine that emphasizes the importance of love and acceptance. Chastain was initially thought of for the lead role, but after reading the script, she was immediately drawn to Celia. She was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.
Maya Harris, Zero Dark Thirty
Chastain earned a Golden Globe award and Oscar nomination for her performance in the 2012 historical thriller Zero Dark Thirty. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, both of whom won Oscars for their work on The Hurt Locker, this film recounts the intense, almost-decade long search for Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda terrorist behind the September 11th attacks in 2001. Chastain’s character Maya Harris, a CIA intelligence analyst who’s recruited to track down the elusive bin Laden, is based on real-life agents on the mission. She’s dropped into the deep end when she’s sent to Pakistan to witness interrogations which involved controversial and life-threatening interrogation techniques.
Adding to the difficulty behind the nearly impossible task is the male-dominated reality of Maya’s profession. Chastain’s nuanced performance as the tenacious CIA worker perfectly encapsulates the unrelenting drive and determination, as well as unbreakable composure that was necessary for government employees on their hunt for the Al-Qaeda leader. In many ways, Maya becomes the most trusted and respected analyst on the manhunt. The Oscar-winning film’s supporting cast includes Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt, and Jennifer Ehle.
Anna Morales, A Most Violent Year
The 2014 film A Most Violent Year, written and directed by J.C. Chandor, takes place in New York City in the early 1980s and follows Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac), a hard-working immigrant and owner of a growing heating and oil business who struggles to protect his family, workers, and business from competitors and jail. He and his company are under intense scrutiny by Lawrence (David Oyelowo), an assistant district attorney hoping to find Morales guilty of illegal activity including tax evasion and price fixing. On paper, it appears that Abel is the one orchestrating the business and doing all of the heavy lifting. But the true mastermind, however, is his wife Anna (Chastain) who subverts her husband’s alleged power in more ways than one. A role like this could easily have been overacted if put into the wrong hands. Fortunately, Chastain fuses her performance with the proper blend of subtlety and intensity that keeps the character grounded while also instilling fear into anyone that crosses her (dangerous) path. Though the film struggled at the box office, Chastain was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
Madeline Elizabeth Sloane, Miss Sloane
The surprisingly underseen 2016 political thriller Miss Sloane tackles the divisive topic of gun-control (though the topic could easily be a placeholder for any other debatable issue). Written by Jonathan Perera and directed by John Madden, the film follows the aggressive, highly regarded Washington D.C. lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain) who abandons her lobbyist firm once hearing about a prospective client’s mission that would violate her ethical code. Gun manufacturing representative Bill Sanford (Chuck Samata) expresses his interest in having Sloane aid him in his quest to defeat the Heaton-Harris bill by getting the support of female voters. If passed, the bill would enforce and expand background checks on gun buyers, an idea that Sloane supports. She slides into illegal territory once she’s accused of bribery and unauthorized surveillance of her opponents.
Chastain has a knack for playing strong characters who can’t help but gain your respect and trust. Because Sloane has such a compelling and demanding presence, as well as a history of being a successful lobbyist, most of her staff follows her when she leaves to join the opposition at rival firm Peterson Wyatt, headed by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong). Chastain smartly portrays the fast-paced Sloane’s unwavering passion and stone-faced conviction for the cause as well as the vulnerable side of someone who’s sacrificed a personal life for the sake of work. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.
Antonina Żabiński, The Zookeeper’s Wife
Based on the book by Diane Ackerman and directed by Niki Caro, the visually stunning war drama The Zookeeper’s Wife tells the unbelievable true story of two zookeepers during WWII who risked their lives to protect Jewish citizens from Nazi invasion. Antonina (Chastain) as well as her husband Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo, which was attacked by the Nazi Germany’s aerial invasion of Warsaw in 1939. After promising to keep their Jewish friend’s bug collection safe from possible confiscation, Antonina opens up their entire home and zoo as a secret sanctuary for Jewish people who were desperate to escape a brutal life in the ghettos. Chastain’s performance as the docile and selfless Antonina is a ray of sunshine in a film that depicts one of the worst moments in world history. The way she and her husband put their lives and reputations on the line for hundreds of strangers will leave you feeling inspired and grateful that such humans exist.
Molly Bloom, Molly’s Game
Chastain’s played a number of real-life people throughout her career that are fueled by ambition, and her performance as Molly Bloom in Molly’s Game is no exception. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and based on the memoir of the same name, this 2017 biographical drama follows the hardened and driven Molly Bloom, the mastermind behind an underground high-stakes poker game in Los Angeles and New York that involved high profile celebrities, athletes, and Wall Street employees. In 2013, Bloom was arrested and charged with heading an illegal poker operation and for her involvement in $100 million worth of money laundering. She’s a relentless fighter determined to succeed, even if it threatens her well-being. It’s clear that through her dry and confident outer shell, she’s haunted by the lack of control she’s felt in her youth. Chastain brings a level of humanity to Bloom, making the character’s steady descent into the world of illegal gambling all the more unsettling.
Mira Phillips, Scenes from a Marriage
The HBO limited series Scenes from a Marriage features what is arguably Chastain’s most intimate performance of her career. Written and directed by Hagai Levi and based on the 1973 Swedish miniseries of the same name by Ingmar Bergman, the series depicts the rawness of marriage for Jonathan (Oscar Isaac) and Mira (Jessica Chastain), a couple that’s suddenly on two distinctly different journeys. Each episode puts their relationship under a microscope and identifies the aspects of their dynamic that simultaneously make them love and loathe each other. Chastain’s performance as the emotionally distant and enigmatic Mira will leave you questioning your allegiance and hanging on her every word. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her impeccable performance.
Tammy Faye Bakker, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is home to Chastain’s boldest and most awe-inspiring performance to date. Based on the documentary by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, this biographical drama tells the real-life rise and fall of Tammy Faye Bakker, a giggly, loving televangelist and singer who, along with her husband Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) dominated the 1970s and ‘80s with the creation of the world’s largest religious television network. Tammy Faye was almost too good and fragile for this world. Chastain, who also produced the film, not only transformed physically to capture Tammy’s iconic big hair and makeup look, but she also channeled Tammy’s crushing insecurity and abundance of emotion. While she may have had trouble accepting herself, she, without hesitation, loved and accepted all of God’s children. Can someone give Chastain the Oscar now?
Jessica Chastain can be seen in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Scenes from a Marriage, which are both available on HBO Max. She currently stars in the action film The 355 alongside Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o.