Jessica Chastain

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29 Feb 2024

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Michelle Chastain, born on March 24, 1977, is an American actress and producer known for her roles in projects with feminist themes. Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, along with nominations for two Tony Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2012, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Chastain's interest in acting began at an early age, and she made her professional stage debut in 1998 as Shakespeare's Juliet. She furthered her training at the prestigious Juilliard School before being signed to a talent holding deal with television producer John Wells. Her career took off with recurring guest roles in several television series and performances in various stage productions.

Her film debut came at the age of 31 in the drama "Jolene" (2008), but it was in 2011 that Chastain had her breakthrough with six film releases, including "Take Shelter" and "The Tree of Life." Her performances in "The Help" and "Zero Dark Thirty" earned her Academy Award nominations.
Chastain achieved greater commercial success with roles in science fiction films like "Interstellar" (2014) and "The Martian" (2015), as well as the horror film "It Chapter Two" (2019). She received critical acclaim for portraying strong-willed women in dramas such as "A Most Violent Year," "Miss Sloane," and "Molly's Game," as well as the television miniseries "Scenes from a Marriage" (2021).

In 2021, she portrayed Tammy Faye Bakker in the biopic "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also played Tammy Wynette in the miniseries "George & Tammy" (2022).
On Broadway, Chastain has starred in revivals of "The Heiress" (2012) and "A Doll's House" (2023), earning a Tony Award nomination for the latter. She is the founder of Freckle Films, a production company aimed at promoting diversity in film, and is an investor in the soccer club Angel City FC. Chastain is outspoken about mental health issues, as well as gender and racial equality. She is married to fashion executive Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, with whom she has two children.

Jessica Michelle Chastain was born on March 24, 1977, in Sacramento, California, to Jerri Renee Hastey (née Chastain) and rock musician Michael Monasterio. Her parents were teenagers when she was born, and she had a difficult family background. Chastain's father died in 2013, and she was estranged from him for many years. She grew up with her mother and stepfather, Michael Hastey, who was a firefighter. Chastain faced financial struggles during her upbringing, but she found security and support from her stepfather and her maternal grandmother, Marilyn.

Chastain developed an interest in acting at a young age, attending a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with her grandmother at age seven. She struggled academically in school but found solace in the performing arts, eventually graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1998. She made her professional stage debut as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" at TheatreWorks in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After her stage debut, Chastain auditioned for and was accepted to the Juilliard School in New York City, where she studied acting with the support of a scholarship funded by actor Robin Williams. She faced challenges with anxiety during her first year but gained confidence through successful productions during
her time at Juilliard. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2003, marking the completion of her formal acting education.

After attending an event for final-year students in Los Angeles shortly before graduating from Juilliard, Jessica Chastain was signed to a talent holding deal by television producer John Wells. She moved to Los Angeles and began auditioning for roles, initially finding the process challenging due to her unconventional look as a redhead. Her television debut came with The WB network's 2004 pilot remake of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, where she was cast as Carolyn Stoddard. However, the series was not picked up for broadcast. Chastain went on to guest star in various television series, including ER, Veronica Mars, Close to Home, Blackbeard, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury, often portraying characters with mental illness or unusual roles.

In 2004, Chastain also appeared in a Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Anton Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard and worked with Playwrights Horizons on a production of Richard Nelson's Rodney's Wife. Her performance in Rodney's Wife received mixed reviews from critics. She was later recommended by Nelson to Al Pacino for his production of Oscar Wilde's tragedy Salome, in which she played the titular character despite being older than the character's age in the play. The production helped raise Chastain's profile among casting directors.

Chastain made her film debut in 2008 in the drama Jolene, where she played the titular character. Her performance received praise, with critics highlighting her as the standout aspect of the film. She won a Best Actress award at the Seattle International Film Festival for her role. In 2009, she had a minor role in the mystery-thriller film Stolen and played Desdemona in The Public Theatre production of Shakespeare's Othello, earning positive reviews for her performance.

In 2010, Chastain starred in John Madden's dramatic thriller The Debt, where she portrayed a young Mossad agent. She shared the role with Helen Mirren, with the two actresses portraying the character at different phases of her life. Chastain's preparation for the role included taking classes in German and Krav Maga and studying books about Mossad history. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising Chastain's performance. She also appeared as Mary Debenham in an episode of the British television series Agatha Christie's Poirot.