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Jessica Chastain on The Daily Show

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First Glimpse of Eleanor Rigby

That is the photo of James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain.  Yes, you read that right.  McAvoy and Chastain.......and they are in a movie together!

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her.   That is the name of a unique film by Ned Benson that I've been waiting for since last summer.  It's a romantic drama where James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain play a NY couple dealing with difficult issues in their relationship.  From the press notes:

"The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her is a two-part love story seen through the eyes of a New York couple trying to understand each other as they cope with personal hardship. The different perspectives of “Him” and “Her” result in two films with a unique look into one couple's attempt to reclaim the life and love they once had."

It has a very unique "point of view" premise that I'm really interested in seeing how it will be presented.  It will be part of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this Sept 5 - 15, 2013.  And so with TIFF's announcement of included films, the above photo of the movie was released yesterday.  Now, I'm even more excited to see it!  As if the photo isn't enough already to get you enthused for this movie, wait until you learn about the supporting cast!  It includes the wonderful Isabelle Huppert, Viola Davis, Ciaran Hinds, William Hurt, Jess Weixler, Nina Arianda and Bill Hader.  Isn't that just fabulous??!!

In other Chastain news, she was honored last Sunday (July 21) at the Giffoni Film Fest in Italy with the Experience Award.  Part of the celebration was a Q and A with her before the award was presented.  One question she was asked was how she handles fame and the paparazzi and I'd like to point out her anecdote about attending a cooking class in NYC (around 45 secs of the video).  It's a charming story........

A Glimpse of Miss Julie

(photo from Screen Daily)

 

 

The first images of Liv Ullmann's version of August Strindberg's Miss Julie have emerged!  I can't wait for this film!  Starring Jessica Chastain as Miss Julie and Colin Farrell as the valet, Jean, this production was shot in Northern Ireland in Castle Coole.  Mark Salisbury of Screen Daily recently visited the set.  Read his full article here.  

 

 



(photo from Screen Daily)

Oh here's another one.......below is a photo of Jessica Chastain with her dialect coach, Joan Washington which she posted on her Facebook page.  Ms. Chastain writes "This is the great Joan Washington. She's an incredible dialect coach & I've had the pleasure of working with her on 4 projects; The Debt, Poirot, Coriolanus, and now Miss Julie. There's a lot that goes in to creating a character. Most people think it's just the actor, but there's a huge team of help."



Oscar Bait?

 

 

Just a few weeks ago it was announced that  Jessica Chastain will join Benedict Cumberbatch, Emma Stone and Charlie Hunman in an upcoming Guillermo Del Toro horror flick, Crimson Peak.  Late last night, my tweeter feed was a buzz when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the talented actress has also now been cast as lead in Diane Ackerman's best seller, The Zookeeper's Wife.  From the press notes:

 

"Wife is the true account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, who helped save hundreds during the Nazi invasion.
When the Nazi army overran Warsaw, destroying the city and its zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. The Zabinskis also took about a dozen Jews into their home.
While danger was always present, and her husband was part of the Polish resistance, Antonina Zabinski kept a mix of humans and surviving animals (lynxes and hyena pups, among them) humming in a one-of-a-kind community that included socializing and even the occasional piano concert."


Hmmm......it's like Sophie's Choice meets Schindler's List!  Could this be her chance for an Oscar win?  Well, wait a minute.....she also has Miss Julie currently in production!  That's 2!  Either way, I admire her choice of making quality projects instead of going for the blockbusters.  Clearly her talent deserves nothing less.

Read more about this casting news here.

(photos from Amazon.com and IMDB)

Coriolanus

"Would you have me
False to my nature? Rather say I play
The man I am."

That is the quote that underlies this Shakespearean tragedy.  Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes) is a celebrated Roman general who returns to his city after defending Rome from their rival the Volcians led by Aufidius (Gerard Butler).  He has been raised to be merciless and ruthless so that when a shortage of grain occurs, throwing the city into a state of chaos, he then suspends civil liberties which makes him despised by the very people he defended.  Having restored some form of order in the meantime, Coriolanus is also urged to run for consul in the Roman senate by his avid supporter Senator Menenius (Brian Cox).  Further encouraging him in this endeavor are his mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) and wife, Virgilia (Jessica Chastain).  Coriolanus is now thrown into a personal conflict on whether to stay true to himself or play politics and try to gain the affection of the very people who now dislike him.  Menenius persuades him to ask for their support so he concedes begrudgingly.  He may defend Rome but he has no desire to listen to their concerns.  His chief critic, Sicinius (James Nesbitt) manages to goad the population to see him as a tyrant and reject him.  The people turn against Coriolanus, revolt and consequently banishes him into exile.  Betrayed and furious at the audacity of the Romans, Coriolanus aligns with his rival Aufidius to take revenge against his own city.

Ralph Fiennes is, as always, excellent and very intense as Coriolanus.  There were even some scenes where I'd feel that he was going to turn into Voldemort (yes sorry I couldn't help it).  But what was wonderful was the confrontation scene with his family towards the end when one sees a fearless general turn back into a boy in front of his formidable mother, Volumnia.  Vanessa Redgrave is both elegant and imposing as a mother who has raised her child as a soldier.  It is thrilling to see her spar with Fiennes in this movie.  And yet she is all gentle and supporting when during her scenes with her daughter-in-law, Virgilia.  Though her role as a supportive and fragile wife doesn't give her too much to do, Jessica Chastain plays her with great vulnerability and she very much holds her own in her scenes with Mr. Fiennes and Ms. Redgrave.  Having just seen her in Zero Dark Thirty, it's delightful to hear her utter Shakespeare so naturally like the words just poured out of her.  There is an aura of grace in the way she speaks Shakespeare's words as if she was born to talk that way. 

Mr. Fiennes not only stars in this film but also directs it.  Together with writer John Logan, he has set Coriolanus in modern times with reminders of the Occupy movement, election politics and campaigning as well as urban warfare. It is surprisingly relevant and to think the play was written ages ago!  I was actually delaying watching this film because I thought that I might have trouble with the language but after 5 minutes of the film, I was captured.  Shakespeare is really meant to be heard in dialogue and seen in performance instead of read in text.  So go for it and see this (it's on Netflix streaming) for it might surprise you!

Movie theMovie 2V

My Best Picture, My Best Actress

Zero Dark Thirty is my best picture this year. 

It is an unflinching film that puts forth the efforts of nameless people against the war on terror.  For a film that is very “of the moment” it is intricately detailed and exceptionally well made. 

Zero Dark Thirty presented events as it is.  No commentary, no director point of view.  It is troubling and very uncomfortable to sit through but that is what I see a Best Picture film should do.  It should place a mirror to society in order to push the viewer to think and let them see where they stand.  It is precisely the presentation of the moral ambiguities in this film that I have come to really appreciate it.  Because I thought it respected me as a viewer by not “dumbing it down” by leading me into a point of view.  I don't want to be preached to in a movie.  Instead, it allowed me to form my own conclusions.  The torture scenes are troubling and I don’t think anyone I knew who saw the movie thought that the film “glorified” torture as its detractors have stated.  In fact, watching those scenes would just re-iterate how appalling and inhumane it was.  It is unfortunate that this existed as part of a former administration’s policy but we also have to be brave enough to face the truth.    

The events highlighted in the scenes where the agents were sifting through data and interrogation footage are mostly a slow burn.  But I thought that the pace just emphasizes the almost impossible task and constant frustration of this mission.  These scenes are juxtaposed with real life events such as the London bombings and the bombing of the Marriot Hotel which reminds the audience of how much is at stake in this hunt.  The raid sequence at the end puts the viewer on the ground with the SEAL team and provides the most nerve wracking and edge of your seat anxiety inducing sequence I’ve seen in a film.  Shot in night vision goggles, it feels so real.  So raw.  But pure brilliance in filmmaking!

Throughout the film, we the audience see the story through Maya.  She’s the lone CIA agent whose instincts direct her to follow her lead to find Bin Laden through his courier, Abu Ahmed.  She is the strongest female lead among all the characters of the Best Actress nominees this year.   It didn’t bother me that she didn’t have a backstory.  Jessica Chastain who played Maya with an all-consuming tenacity is outstanding in this role.  She is my Best Actress this year.  She developed from a CIA newbie to a seasoned interrogator who was able to read into what the detainees weren't telling them. Her portrayal is very subtle, less ego-driven and less flashy so that when she explodes in the middle of the film towards her boss, Bradley (Kyle Chandler), you are taken aback with the bottled frustration she releases.  It’s a performance that makes the viewer work had to pay attention at the nuances.  It draws the viewer in and if you miss it, too bad because it’s all there......in her eyes, forrow of her brows and hunch of her shoulders.  Detailed, determined and confident.  I think it’s more difficult to pull off a subtle performance convincingly and she did it here exceptionally well.

I know the film will not win Best Picture because of the “torture controversy”.  Heck, Kathryn Bigelow (my Best Director pick) wasn’t even nominated!  The Oscars just don’t like controversial films.  Oscar pundits have also stated that Chastain’s shot for Best Actress might now be a long shot because of this.  Who knows until later tonight.  All I know is, this is a film that my friends and I keep talking about even weeks after we’ve seen it.  It fosters a good discussion.  I feel that maybe as years go on, it will be remembered as a great film or maybe an important one.  The last scene when Maya finally shows her release and cries, is for me, the most indelible image from any film this year.  It’s powerful and haunting. 

 

(photo from IMDB.com)

Chastain: Back To Before

Way before bursting into the film scene and even before entering Juilliard, Jessica Chastain honed her acting skills early on by treading the boards.  Just yesterday photos of her in the 1998 production of Romeo And Juliet from Theatreworks in the San Francisco Bay area surfaced. 



The article from Celebuzz states that "Chastain played Juliet in the production opposite another aspiring young actor, Travis Engle. Set in war-torn Londonderry, Northern Ireland, the production of the Shakespearean classic mixed boisterous brawls and soaring Celtic music as the young couple tried to find love amid the city’s Catholic and Protestant divide." --->  I really like that idea of this setting in Ireland with religious tension involved aside from just the family conflict. 



Theatreworks director Robert Kelley was interviewed for the article and he states "Jessica was a really talented actress in our production of Romeo and Juliet, and I had a feeling she would go on to have an amazing career even back then."



“With her flaming red hair, Jessica was perfect for the part, and she was really excellent in the production. Her facial expressions and delivery were perfect, and she really got the Irish accent down too,” he said.



“Jessica was great with the other actors, and she was a real leader of the company. We could all see the beginnings of a wonderful actress. We wrote up a recommendation for her for Juilliard School in New York, and it is to her testament that she has gone on to have both a successful career both on Broadway and in film too.”



And he hopes that his protégé will one day return to work at the theater company that helped launch her to superstar status.

“We will all be absolutely be rooting for Jessica at the Oscars, and I think her nomination is very deserving,” he said. “Hopefully, she can win the award and can come back to work with us once again at Theatreworks.”

(Photos from Celebuzz)

Chastain on Katie

On Tuesday Feb. 12, Jessica Chastain did a one on one interview with Katie Couric on her show. She talks about the first time she knew she wanted to be an actor, Oscar season, love (surprise!) and of course Zero Dark Thirty. Watch the videos below courtesy of Jessica-Chastain.com

Part 1:

Part 2:

Jessica also did a Q and A with the Film Society of Lincoln Center on Friday Feb. 8th. She talks lovingly about her Juilliard experience as well as the films and roles she has done.  I always love hearing her process of getting to know her characters.  In particular, how she found or understood Celia Foote when she visited Sugar Ditch, MS.  Very interesting!

Between Two Ferns: Oscars 2013

 

Hilarious!!!  Zach Galifianakis is back with his awkward interviews in Between Two Ferns series and this time his focus is the 2013 Oscars.  Check the two part video below featuring Oscar nominated actors (whatever you do, make sure you watch the end of part 2):

 

Part 1 features:  Jennifer Lawrence, Christoph Waltz, Naomi Watts, Amy Adams, and Anne Hathaway 

 

Part 2 features:  Jessica Chastain, Sally Field, Bradley Cooper and a surprise guest

TIME Magazine: Great Performances of 2013

To celebrate this Awards Season, TIME Magazine has portraits of 11 actors

who appeared in 2012 films that captured key moments in history,

and several of whom portrayed real-life people.  The photos were taken

by fashion photographer Paola Kudacki. 

 

Some of the photos are posted below but to see the full feature click here.

Video interviews of the actors can also be view through TIME

 

 

Sally Field (Lincoln)

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

 

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

 

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

 

Amy Adams (The Master)

 

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Jessica and Ellen

Jessica Chastain Interview Feb 05 2013 by thecrackedactor

Upstaging The Heiress

 

 

Last Saturday night (Feb. 2), I went to see The Heiress again one more time before it closes this coming Saturday Feb. 9.  It's one of my favorite plays and I really enjoyed this production when I saw it during previews in October.  It's surprisingly funny which all the more makes the second act devastating.  You feel for Catherine.  Every word her father throws at her during their confrontation in the second act is a dagger at her heart. 

 

 

 

 

The cast headed by Jessica Chastain, David Strathairn, Dan Stevens and Judith Ivey were all brilliant. In fact, I think I relished this production even more the second viewing. I don't really know why that is maybe it's because the cast is more at home now with the characters compared to when I saw it but nevertheless, it was a engaging night. (Read my original post about the The Heiress here).

  

 

 

 

Before the show, I found out from some twitter posts that during the Saturday matinee, Jessica Chastain's dog, Chaplin had escaped her dressing room and walked onstage during a crucial scene in the second act!  Don't you just love live theatre??!!!

 



 

 



According to this post by Breanne L. Heldman (who was in the audience that afternoon):  "During a heated moment between her character, Catherine, and her father, played by David Strathairn, Chastain’s three-legged rescue dog, Chaplin, made a grand entrance… only he had no role in the play! The Saturday matinee crowd was aghast – and we were sitting in the second row to witness the action.

At first, the audience wondered if perhaps the pooch was part of the play – Chastain plays an heiress, after all, albeit one circa the 19th century – but as the Oscar nominee and Strathairn stared each other down (still totally in character), we quickly knew that wasn’t the case. The 35-year-old actress swiftly turned and walked Chaplin off the stage, never reaching down to pick him up or cracking so much as the slightest smile.

 

Like the pros they are, the two thespians allowed the audience a moment to laugh and get over the adorable disruption before continuing with their scene.

Thankfully, the “Zero Dark Thirty” heroine wasn’t all business when it came time for the curtain call. Chaplin got another moment in the spotlight in his owner’s arms as she laughed hysterically and took her bows."

 

 

At the stagedoor, I had asked Dan Stevens about the incident and to which he chuckled and said "It's brilliant!"

 

 

When I got a chance to chat to Jessica Chastain, I said "I heard your dog tried to upstage you this afternoon".  She replied with a bubbly laugh and said "Oh my gosh YES!"  She seemed really amused and I just mentioned that people were tweeting about it and with that, she again laughed heartily  combined with a shake of her head as if in disbelief.  Too funny!

  

 

 

In October when I first saw the play there were around 20 people at the stagedoor.  This cold February night, there were about a hundred people (plus some paparazzi!) Talking to the guy at the stagedoor, he had said that the crowd has gotten bigger and bigger since Jessica Chastain won the Golden Globes and Downton Abbey Season 3 started.  Both actors however stayed until EVERYONE got their playbills signed and photos taken.  How generous! I'm impressed!

 

 

  

 

Jessica mentioned that she was flying to LA Sunday to attend the Oscar nominee luncheon held Monday (Feb. 4).  She also mentioned that on the evening performance on Feb. 9, she will not be signing at the stagedoor as she has to catch a helicopter to take her to the airport so she can make the last flight out to London for the BAFTA's (check out her hectic schedule here).  She also said that if anyone was planning to be there at the last performance, just come at the stagedoor after the matinee instead.  So take note people!

 

 

Casting Coup!

 

 

It was reported yesterday by Broadwayworld that Meryl Streep will play the witch in a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods!  The film will be directed by Rob Marshall.  Read more about it here.

 

 

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter finally confirmed that the new film adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie directed by Liv Ullmann will star Jessica Chastain!  Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton will also be part of the cast.  Ms. Chastain has mentioned that Miss Julie is one of her dream roles and has hinted about this project about a week and a half ago in this SAG Foundation Q & A (around 55:20 min).

 

For theatre nerds like us, this is all kinds of goodness! I cannot wait!

 

(photo above from People.com)

Maya and Bigelow Threaten the Status Quo

 

 

I'd like to point out this brilliant article about Zero Dark Thirty's fall from Oscar grace as it threatens the status quo.  It's written by Sasha Stone from Awards Daily.  An excerpt is below but you can read the whole post here.

 

 

"Zero Dark Thirty represents a revolutionary idea — a woman who doesn’t need any man to come in and rescue her. Moreover, she’s the ball buster in the room. She’s the one who says it’s time to put the pressure on (a reminder that I am looking at the film as art and not debating torture) and she’s the one who sticks to her guns when the men want to turn tail and run. We spend much of the time on Maya’s face, watching her thought processes as she works it out, as she zeros in on her target.

At the end of the day, no one really knows what to do with this character. We prefer movies where the men fix everything because that’s what we’re used to, that supposedly controls the box office, that is the status quo that has been choking the life out of modern Hollywood. What do we do when a whole movie is about the internal life of a female character that isn’t a positive experience? By the end of Zero Dark Thirty Maya has done her job and done it well, as she had been trained to do by the CIA but that doesn’t mean she’s happy. There are no knights in shining armor to rescue her. She doesn’t get a pat on the back and a gold star. She doesn’t right the wrongs of our society. She suffers silently, alone, with nowhere to put her own torment."

She adds on further:

"Zero Dark Thirty is threatening in many ways that have nothing to do with torture. It is quietly the only film in the Oscar race by a woman and about a woman. Yes, the screenplay was written by a man but the uniqueness of the Bigelow/Chastain collaboration should not be discounted, particularly when we are in the rut we’ve been in for the past two years, where the majority of movies that land in the Oscar race are by and about men featuring men doing great things and women being subdued and supportive in the background. It feels like the 1950s all over again — except for back then movies like All About Eve were winning Best Picture."

In relation to this, Kathryn Bigelow started this Thunderclap campaign to support the crucial role of women in America's national security.  There are 2 days left for this campaign.  Please support it by joining here.

(photo from IMDB.com)

Lessons from a Stagedoor Sweetheart

 

 

We started this blog in May of 2007 and since then we have met many actors at the stagedoor.  I have to say that by far, no one beats Jessica Chastain in being the loveliest actor I've ever met at the stagedoor.  At the time we saw her in previews (Oct. 2012) of The Heiress, there were about 50 people at the stagedoor and my friends and I were surprised that she signed and took pictures with EVERYONE.  She makes sure she converses with people and seems to generally enjoy the experience.  Actually, when it was my turn, she stopped signing, had a big smile, looked me in the eye and listened to what I had to say (which was how I really enjoyed the play and that she was wonderful as Catherine).  She's very appreciative, takes her time (yes no handler to rush you along), waits patiently until each and everyone has had their turn. 

 

Ever so gracious, she has this genuine aura of warmth about her that's very endearing.  Since then, I've read on various theatre message boards that she comes out to meet theatregoers after each and every show (yes even on matinees!).  Just this past week, she braved the 16 F cold weather to greet fans who have been waiting for her (see video here).  And if that's not enough, she was photographed Thursday night at the stagedoor busting out her ASL (that would be American Sign Language) to converse with a hearing impaired fan (read here).  Can you imagine how that fan must have felt???!!! Wow!  As a person who work with hearing impaired children, I am blown away by her generosity and big heart.

 

(photos above from The Daily Mail)



 

 

 

 





 



J Law & J Chas

Last Saturday (1/19) Jennifer Lawrence gave an amusing monologue on SNL which included some digs towards her Oscar competition.  Check it out above.

On Monday (1/21) during a press round up for Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica Chastain was asked about her reaction to Jennifer Lawrence's monologue.  Watch her reaction below (around 3:30 min.)

Chastain: Box Office Queen

 

 

 

OK I was going to try to avoid  a post about Jessica Chastain (just to break the monotony) but this one couldn't be avoided because of it's rarity.

 

It's been talk of the blogosphere and twitterverse that Jessica Chastain dominated the box office this weekend!  Her film Mama where she plays a punk rock bass player charged with taking care of two feral children earned the top spot at the box office during this extended MLK weekend.  It is projected to earn $33 million for the extended weekend.  Previously, bloggers were worried that Mama could be Chastain's "Norbit" (you know, the awful Eddie Murphy movie that came out around the same time as Dreamgirls.  Some people believe it cost him the Oscar).  Surprisingly this Guillermo Del Toro produced horror flick gained favorable reviews in several publications with critics like Richard Roper and The Hollywood Reporter plus it's getting a 62 % fresh rating in Rotten Tomatoes.  Clearly, Chastain's knack of choosing her projects have paid out. 

 

Coming second at the box office is her nominated and critically acclaimed Zero Dark Thirty (my review soon to follow) which earned $17.6 million (it's cumulative total is now $ 56 million).  Both films beat out the Walhberg/Russell Crowe Broken City and Schwarzenneger The Last Stand.  Websites such as EW, Awards Daily, Rope of Silicon and The Wrap who follow the Oscar race have stated that this 1-2 punch at the box office is a rare occurrence where the same actor plays the lead in two distinctly different movies (franchise or non-franchise).    All this while she's still starring on Broadway in The Heiress during this crucial Oscar season!

 

Addendum (1/22/2013, 11:53 pm): It also appears that post-Golden Globes win, Ms. Chastain's play The Heiress earned a 13.7% bump in the box office selling out all shows this past weekend.  The play earned $ 150K more than the week before.  Read it here.

 

(photo above from IMDB.com)

 



SAG: Conversations with Jessica Chastain

"If you do the work even though no one is watching, luck will eventually find you." -- Jessica Chastain

The quote above was the parting words Jessica Chastain gave to actors and SAG members who attended a Q & A with the award winning actress yesterday (Jan 17).  The event was sponsored by the SAG Foundation and was streamed live but fortunately for us, made available on their youtube channel.

I love hearing actors talk about their process and how they find their characters.  I don't know why but I just do.  Having heard her Golden Globe speech where she talks about struggling and fighting for roles, it's particularly interesting when you hear her talk more specifically about her first few years in the business and her big reality check when she moved to LA after Drama School ( around 20:00 min).  What is even more impressive is even in those years of constant rejection, she remained focused and constantly challenged herself, working on her craft even when no one was watching.  It makes you understand how she evolved into this extraordinary actress who is able to transform with every role.

In the Q & A clip, she also talks about getting her SAG card by being in an episode of ER back in 2004.  She played a girl who tried to keep her abusive father alive so he can feel pain.  Here is that episode:



And so, here she is again in yet another transformation for her movie MAMA which opens today, Jan. 18: