Jessica Chastain is an American actress of film, television, and stage. As a final-year student at the Juilliard School, she was signed on for a talent holding deal by the television producer John Wells. [1] From 2004 to 2010, she had guest roles in television shows, including ER , Veronica Mars , and Law & Order: Trial by Jury . [1] [2] She also appeared in stage productions with Michelle Williams for The Cherry Orchard in 2004, and with Al Pacino for Salome in 2006. [2] In 2008, Chastain made her film debut as the title character in the drama Jolene . [3] She had a minor role in Stolen (2009), a critically panned mystery-thriller, following which she played the younger version of Helen Mirren's character in the action thriller film The Debt (2010). [4] [5]
The year 2011 proved a breakthrough for Chastain. [6] Among her six film releases that year, she starred with Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life , an experimental drama from Terrence Malick, and portrayed an aspiring socialite in 1960s America in the drama The Help . [7] For the latter, Chastain received her first Academy Award nomination, in the supporting actress category. [8] In 2012, she voiced Gia in the $747 million-grossing animated film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted . [9] She also played a CIA analyst in Kathryn Bigelow's thriller Zero Dark Thirty —a partly fictionalized account of the manhunt for Osama bin Laden —which garnered her a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress. [10] Also in 2012, Chastain made her Broadway debut in a revival of The Heiress , playing a naive young girl who becomes a powerful woman. [11]
In 2013, Chastain starred in the horror film Mama , and played an unhappily married woman in Ned Benson's three-part drama film, collectively titled The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby . [12] Chastain's biggest live-action commercial successes came in the next two years with the science fiction films Interstellar (2014) and The Martian (2015), both of which grossed over $600 million worldwide. [13] In the former, directed by Christopher Nolan, she played a scientist, and in the latter, directed by Ridley Scott, she played an astronaut alongside Matt Damon. [14] [15] Chastain went on to play strong-willed titular protagonists in the political thriller Miss Sloane (2016), the historical drama The Zookeeper's Wife (2017), and the crime film Molly's Game (2017). [16] In 2019, Chastain played the adult Beverly Marsh in the horror sequel It Chapter Two . [17] In 2021, she starred in the HBO miniseries Scenes from a Marriage , and produced and starred as the televangelist Tammy Faye in the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye . [18] [19] For the latter, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. [20] Chastain received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for starring in a 2023 Broadway revival of A Doll's House . [21]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Jolene | Jolene | [22] | |
2009 | Stolen | Sally Ann | Also known as Stolen Lives [lower-alpha 1] | [4] [23] |
2010 | The Westerner | Daniel's mother | Short film; also co-producer | [24] |
The Debt | Young Rachel Singer | [5] | ||
2011 | Take Shelter | Samantha LaForche | [25] | |
Coriolanus | Virgilia | [26] | ||
The Tree of Life | Mrs. O'Brien | [27] | ||
The Help | Celia Foote | [7] | ||
Wilde Salomé [lower-alpha 2] | Salome | Documentary film | [29] | |
Texas Killing Fields | Detective Pam Stall | [30] | ||
2012 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | Gia | Voice | [31] |
Lawless | Maggie Beauford | [32] | ||
The Color of Time | Mrs. Williams | Also known as Tar [lower-alpha 3] | [33] [34] | |
Zero Dark Thirty | Maya Harris | [35] | ||
2013 | Mama | Annabel | [36] | |
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby [lower-alpha 4] | Eleanor Rigby | Also co-producer | [37] [38] | |
2014 | Miss Julie | Miss Julie | [39] | |
Interstellar | Murphy "Murph" Cooper | [40] | ||
A Most Violent Year | Anna Morales | [41] | ||
2015 | Unity | Narrator | Documentary film | [42] [43] |
The Martian | Melissa Lewis | [15] [44] | ||
Crimson Peak | Lucille Sharpe | [45] | ||
2016 | The Huntsman: Winter's War | Sara | [46] | |
Miss Sloane | Elizabeth Sloane | [47] | ||
2017 | I Am Jane Doe | Narrator | Documentary film; also executive producer | [48] |
The Zookeeper's Wife | Antonina Żabińska | Also executive producer | [49] [50] | |
Molly's Game | Molly Bloom | [51] | ||
Woman Walks Ahead | Caroline Weldon | [52] | ||
2018 | This Changes Everything | Herself | Documentary film | [53] |
2019 | Dark Phoenix | Vuk / Margaret | [54] | |
It Chapter Two | Beverly Marsh | [17] | ||
2020 | Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy | Herself | Documentary film; also executive producer | [55] |
Ava | Ava Faulkner | Also producer | [56] | |
2021 | The Forgiven | Jo Henninger | [57] | |
The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Tammy Faye Bakker | Also producer | [58] | |
2022 | The 355 | Mason "Mace" Brown | Also producer | [59] |
Armageddon Time | Maryanne Trump | Cameo | [60] | |
The Good Nurse | Amy Loughren | [61] | ||
2023 | Memory | Sylvia | [62] | |
TBA | Mothers' Instinct † | Alice | Post-production, also producer | [63] |
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Dark Shadows | Carolyn Stoddard | Pilot episode [lower-alpha 5] | [64] |
2004 | ER | Dahlia Taslitz | Episode: "Forgive and Forget" | [65] |
2004 | Veronica Mars | Sarah Williams | Episode: "The Girl Next Door" | [66] |
2005–2006 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | ADA Sigrun Borg | 3 episodes | [67] |
2006 | Close to Home | Casey Wirth | Episode: "The Rapist Next Door" | [68] |
2006 | The Evidence | Laura Green | Episode: "Pilot" | [69] |
2006 | Blackbeard | Charlotte Ormand | Miniseries | [70] |
2007 | 'Til Death | Hostess | Episode: "The Italian Affair" | [71] |
2007 | Journeyman | Tanna Bloom | Episode: "Friendly Skies" | [72] |
2010 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Mary Debenham | Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express" | [73] |
2016 | Animals. | Sarah | Voice, episode: "Turkeys" | [74] [75] |
2018 | Saturday Night Live | Herself | Episode: "Jessica Chastain / Troye Sivan" | [76] |
2021 | Scenes from a Marriage | Mira Phillips | Miniseries; also executive producer | [77] |
2022 | Reframed: Marilyn Monroe | Narrator | Documentary miniseries | [78] |
2022–2023 | George & Tammy | Tammy Wynette | Miniseries; also executive producer | [79] |
Year | Production | Role | Venue | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | Romeo and Juliet | Juliet Capulet | Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts | [80] |
2004 | The Cherry Orchard | Anya | Williamstown Theatre Festival | [81] |
2004 | Rodney's Wife | Lee | Playwrights Horizons | [82] |
2006 | Salome | Salome | Wadsworth Theatre | [83] |
2009 | Othello | Desdemona | The Public Theater | [84] |
2012 | The Heiress | Catherine Sloper | Walter Kerr Theatre | [85] |
2017 | The Children's Monologues | 13-year-old girl | Carnegie Hall | [86] |
2023 | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer | Hudson Theatre | [87] |
Year | Title | Performer(s) | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | "Family Feud" | Jay-Z (featuring Beyoncé) | 4:44 | [88] |
Year | Title | Role | Platform | Note | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | The Space Within | Dr. Madeline Wyle | Audible | 8 episodes | [89] |
Year | Title | Role | Release | Note | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Spheres: Songs of Spacetime | Narrator | Oculus Rift | Also executive producer | [90] |
Andrew Russell Garfield is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award and two Academy Awards. Time included Garfield on its list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
Octavia Lenora Spencer is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award, and is the first black actress to receive two consecutive Oscar nominations.
Jessica Michelle Chastain is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.
Christopher Catesby Harington is an English actor. He is known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Christopher Jacob Abbott is an American actor known for his work in independent films. In 2011, Abbott made his feature film debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene and his Broadway debut in the revival of the play The House of Blue Leaves.
A Most Violent Year is a 2014 crime drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor, who also produced with Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb. It stars Oscar Isaac as a fuel supplier who tries to adhere to his own moral compass amid the rampant violence, corruption and decay that threaten his family and his business. The film also stars Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks.
Alexandra Shipp is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the Oscar-nominated film Straight Outta Compton (2015).
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Xavier Dolan, in his English-language debut. The film stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. It deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.
STX Entertainment is an American entertainment and media company. Founded in March 2014 by film producer Robert Simonds, the studio produces film, television, and digital media projects.
Molly's Game is a 2017 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Molly Bloom. It stars Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Joe Keery, Brian D'Arcy James, and Bill Camp.
Miss Sloane is a 2016 political thriller film directed by John Madden and written by Jonathan Perera. The film stars Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alison Pill, Jake Lacy, John Lithgow, and Sam Waterston. The film follows Elizabeth Sloane, a fierce lobbyist, who fights in an attempt to pass gun control legislation.
The Forgiven is a 2021 crime drama film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh and based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, Mourad Zaoui, Marie-Josée Croze, Alex Jennings, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Christopher Abbott. Elizabeth Eves and McDonagh produced the film under their House of Un-American Activities label.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a 2021 American biographical drama film directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by Abe Sylvia, based on the 2000 documentary of the same name by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of World of Wonder. The film tells the story of Tammy Faye Bakker, from her humble beginnings growing up in International Falls, Minnesota, through the rise and fall of her televangelism career and marriage to Jim Bakker. Cherry Jones and Vincent D'Onofrio also star. The film is produced by Chastain's production company, Freckle Films.
Freckle Films is an American film and television production company. It is owned by Jessica Chastain.
Scenes from a Marriage is an American drama television miniseries developed, written and directed by Hagai Levi produced for HBO and starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. It is an English-language remake of the 1973 Swedish miniseries of the same name by Ingmar Bergman. It was presented at the 2021 Venice Film Festival and it premiered on September 12, 2021, on HBO. For his performance, Isaac was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, with Chastain also earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Film.
George & Tammy is an American biographical drama television miniseries created by Abe Sylvia and directed by John Hillcoat, which premiered on Paramount Network, Showtime and CMT on December 4, 2022, with Showtime as its primary network. It stars Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon as country music legends Tammy Wynette and George Jones, chronicling their tumultuous relationship and intertwined careers.
Linda Dowds is a Canadian-British make-up artist. She is best known for her work on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, True Detective, The Kennedys and Grey Gardens.