Jessica Chastain

[Witchie]

Wow. I didn't see it until I you guys said it.

I like the rumor she's dating Edgar Ramirez, her co-star from Zero Dark Thirty. He's hot & they look good together.

[Ginger]

Celebitchy[/color] investigated her age. She's 35 now, according to her senior yearbook and a newspaper article early in her career. Her official age is still "around 30". Also, her name was Chastain in high school.

I don't believe she's Ron Howard's daughter, but I can totally believe she went by the name Howard early in her career hoping a casting agent would think she was.

I've only seen her interviewed one time, and in all of 60 seconds she came off as incredibly careerist. I can't remember exactly why, but it was off-putting.

[carrier76]

Her face bugs me. Shallow, but. She seems like the kind of actress that would put me off of seeing a movie. I have no idea why I feel this way, so it has to be something in her face.

I'm a jerk.

[MrsCatHead]

When I see her in the trailer for Zero Dark Thirty, I think, " Could they not get Mireille Enos?"

[Atreides]

I haven't actually seen her in anything but it's just amazing that Jessica's basically come out of nowhere and has been in so many movies in just over a year.

[Ginger]

I've only seen Chastain in The Tree of Life, and unfortunately Terrence Malick stuck her with the most pretentious and annoying stuff in the movie. I was a little fed up by the time she was walking on the mystical beach of dead people moaning, "My son...my son..." I expect to start liking her more when I see her in something else.

[Deleted]

I thought she was great in The Help, her Oscar nomination was well-deserved in my opinion. I also thought she did well in The Debt and Take Shelter. She generally seems to favor smaller independent movies.

[huntergrayson]

I haven't seen Zero Dark Thirty yet. But the crazy conspiracy theory *I* want to know/find out the truth of is the rumors that her character and Carrie Matheson/Claire Danes on 'Homeland' are based somewhat off the same real-life CIA agent. Which, as far as I can tell, she isn't portrayed as bipolar in Zero Dark.

The possibility that two actresses could win Golden Globes on the same night for portraying the "same" real-life person in two different mediums with two WIDELY DIFFERENT acting styles?

I think that's pretty much unprecedented, awards-wise. It would be if some dude was picking up supporting statues left and right as Young Lincoln.

I don't think she's careerist! At least, not in a bad sense. She always comes off as appreciative and down-to-earth and kinda funny in the interviews I've read. But I think she's "careerist" in the sense that she's a workhorse/workmanlike actress in her approach. She wants to work. She wants to make movies and star in big schmaltzy crowdpleasers like "The Help" and work with Kathryn Bigelow, and, heck say yes to Malick if he wants her. Then make her Broadway debut. (I kinda would love to go see her. NY Mag's theater critic singled her out as the absolute best thing about 'The Heiress' revival.)

I think she's "careerist" in the sense that, say, someone like Stanley Tucci or Alison Janney is careerist. Why turn up your nose at 'Devil Wears Prada'? I know she hasn't really gone the rom-com route like many of her contemporaries but I don't think she'd consider the right one beneath her.

It's funny, I haven't seen Lawless either but one of my buddies was all bro-ing out with me about it over drinks and being all "dude! It's awesome! And Jessica Chastain shows her tits!" then he was like "which, it was kinda a random nude scene. I'm not sure why she did it because it wasn't super arty or attention grabbing or career-advancing" and I said "I don't think she cares, really."

People like Alba have annoyed me for YEARS for playing strippers and whatnot and then getting high and mighty about NOT doing nudity and using doubles or having boobs CGIed in.

I don't think Chastain ultimately cares if this is her "big nude scene." She seems willing to do whatever she thinks is necessary for her character. I don't think she cares about "oh, I'll wear *this* dress and get *this* attention."

I think she cares about her career in the sense that she wants to have one. One that I bet will be long and varied.

But I don't think she is caring about "I must be Jessica Chastain - MOVIE STAR!"

Besides, she and my crush Mark Duplass are being all adorable and giving great soundbites to NY Mag over which of them/their characters could outcuss each other on 'Zero Dark Thirty' because apparently her character has quite the sailor mouth.

I don't picture say, Keira Knightly or Hathaway being all "I will out MOTHERFUCKER you ANY DAY of the week, Redmayne!"

[Ladybug]

Yes, I agree that she picks her projects very well and has capitalized on some unbelievable early career opportunities, like getting a Robin Williams-funded scholarship to Julliard, being chosen to play Salome opposite Al Pacino, co-staring with Phillip Seymour Hoffman in a touring production of Othello, working with Malick, etc. She's been quietly building a career and reputation for several years, she just happened to have 5 of her films come out in one year. I really admire how she's handled herself. She comes across as a skilled professional, not a starlet.

I don't really care about her lying about her age, especially when she got a relatively late start in Hollywood. Women are often put out to pasture after a certain age, I totally understand why she would want to shave a few years off. The CDAN blind item about her also hinted that she was previously married. Who knows if that's true. Besides bringing her grandmother to premieres and awards shows, I think she goes out of her way to keep her personal details private.

[huntergrayson]

Given the small indie nature of a couple of them, I feel like at least one or two of them were cases of stuff being shot and made years earlier and not trickling out distribution wise until later. That tends to happen, studios try to capitalize on an actor's buzz and put out a bunch of their films at once. Like Hemsworth in the long-delayed Cabin in the Woods coming out thanks to Thor/Avengers.

(Ah, IMDB says the Debt was actually 2010 but released in August 2011.)

I love her hair color. It's such a rich brassy red. (I took the old September Vanity Fair style with me for plane reading with her on the cover because I had tossed it aside with moving - her spread is STUNNING.) I don't think there are many other actresses with *that* red - Kidman and Amy Adams are more strawberry blonde.