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Jessica Chastain has opened up about how she hated being labeled a Hollywood “It Girl” because of her quick rise to prominence during a press conference at Toronto International Film Festival. Chastain appeared at the festival to premiere her latest film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which she developed for over a decade. She will also receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award during the festival on September 18.
Chastain has had a long and impressive career. Making her film debut in 2008 with the drama Jolene, she has since gone on to star in critically-acclaimed films such as The Help, Zero Dark Thirty, and Molly’s Game. Chastain’s latest role sees her portray televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the upcoming biopic alongside Andrew Garfield, who plays her husband, Jim Bakker. The role saw her sit for hours every day in the make-up chair to complete her transformation into the very different-looking real-life character.
As reported by THR, during a press conference over the weekend, Chastain opened up about the buzz around her early roles and being dubbed an “It Girl.” Chastain explained that hearing the way she was being talked about in Hollywood made her feel that her career would shortly be over, calling the label a “death sentence.” She also recalled a time when she attended TIFF in 2011 before becoming a more well-known actress, discussing how anxious she felt about suddenly receiving so much attention after being catapulted into stardom.
“Every time someone said that, I thought, oh no, because you have such a short life. That’s your death sentence as an actress … It’s wonderful to look back at it now because at the time I felt so much anxiety. I was getting so much attention, so soon. Immediately, my life changed. There was no slow gradual entry for me.”
Chastain attended the 2011 festival in order to promote three films, The Tree of Life, The Help, and Take Shelter, which all served as part of a big breakthrough in her career. The films came after a slower period where she struggled to land roles after Jolene. Following this breakthrough, Chastain went on to star in films such as The Martian alongside Matt Damon, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic Interstellar, It Chapter Two, Dark Phoenix, and the upcoming spy film The 355. Chastain’s diverse career has seen her show her acting range across many varied roles in drama, biopics, action, horror, and fantasy.
Chastain’s fears of being dubbed an “It Girl” in her early career are understandable given Hollywood’s history of being an inequitable environment for women. The film industry is notorious for its poor treatment of actresses, be it through powerful individuals abusing their positions, typecasting older actresses in certain roles, or often not casting them at all. Just as Chastain said, being dubbed an “It Girl” would have proved a worrying moment in her career, and likely made her feel concerned that she was dependent on others rather than her own impressive talent. Chastain herself has since gone on to call out abusers in the industry such as Bryan Singer. In 2016, she founded Freckle Films, a production company that aims to promote greater diversity in filmmaking. The Eyes of Tammy Faye is the company’s latest production. With Chastain being a vocal force for change in the industry, hopefully more upcoming stars can avoid feeling the fears and pressures she endured in her early career.
Source: THR
Key Release Dates
- The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)Release date: Sep 17, 2021
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