Who is Jessica Chastain?
Jessica Chastain discovered dance at the age of nine and was in a dance troupe by age thirteen. She began performing in Shakespearean productions all over the Bay area.
An actor in a production of "Romeo & Juliet" encouraged her to audition for Juilliard as a drama major. She became a member of "Crew 32" with the help of a scholarship from one of the school's famous alumni, Robin Williams.
In her last year at Juilliard, she was offered a holding deal with TV writer/producer John Wells and she eventually worked in three of his TV shows. Jessica continues to do theatre, having played in "The Cherry Orchard", "Rodney's Wife", "Salome" and "Othello". She spends her time between New York and Los Angeles, working in theater, film and TV.
In 2011, she had a prolific year in film. She was nominated for and won a number of awards, including a 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for The Help (2011).
Trivia
- Kathryn Bigelow decided to offer her the lead role of Maya after seeing an early cut of Coriolanus (2011). Her agents originally declined the role of Maya for her in Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Producer Megan Ellison, who had worked with Chastain on Lawless (2012), gave Kathryn Bigelow Chastain's phone number so she could personally offer her the role. Chastain accepted.
- Learned German and Krav Maga for The Debt (2010).
- During a July 2019 interview, Jessica Chastain said that she often gets mistaken for fellow actress Bryce Dallas Howard. Jessica Chastain told a story about a time when Jessica Chastain herself mistook a magazine photo of Howard for one of Jessica Chastain, and another story about a time when she (Jessica Chastain) saw Ron Howard in a store and he momentarily mistook her for his daughter.
- Learned the piano for Crimson Peak (2015) and performed all songs in the movie by herself.
- Was once roommates with Michelle Williams. They were both nominated for Oscars in 2012 and have remained good friends.