Jessica Chastain 's life story
American Jessica Chastain has gone from a poor girl who was ridiculed for her red hair and freckles to one of today's most wanted actresses, and last night she won the prestigious Oscar for Best Leading Actress in 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye'.
'I always say I'm realistic, but my mom says I'm just anxious ' without hesitation admits Jessica Chastain,an American actress whose star aura is behind everything that led her to Hollywood's A production: growing up in poverty, challenging,a family tragedy and ultimately an undeniable talent she has shown in a range of films.
One of them is ‘Eyes of Tammy Faye’, which premiered last September. A true drama inspired by the documentary from 2000, directed by Michael Showalte, it brings an intimate look at the incredible rise, fall and redemption of television preacher Tammy Faye Bakker.
During the ’70s and’ 80s Faye and her husband Jim Bakker humbly started and very quickly created the world’s largest religious television channel, as well as a theme park where they preached their message of love, acceptance and progress. Tammy has become legendary for her characteristic singing and acceptance all kinds of people But it didn't take long for their financial inconsistencies, insidious rivals and exposed scandals to cause the collapse of a carefully built empire. The film received solid reviews, and Chastain explained a role that could easily have turned into a caricature.
'The producer wants to make a film, and the actor wants more time. This time I had to be completely embarrassed, which isn’t exactly fun to do. I thought everyone was going to tease me because my Tammy was crazy. That could have followed me my entire career. And I would have to come to terms with that, 'she said.
Her fears did not come true, on the contrary, she won the American Film Actors Guild Award for Best Leading Role and an Oscar in the Leading Actress category . It was the perfect gift for the 45th birthday she celebrated on March 24th. Another of her successes is her role in the HBO-produced series ‘Scenes from Married Life’, which is an adaptation of the Swedish classic Ingmar Bergman from 1973.
It is about Mira, a confident, ambitious director of a technology company who does not feel fulfilled in marriage, whose husband Jonathan (Oscar Isaac) is a friendly intellectual, a professor of philosophy who is desperate to maintain their relationship. The drama depicts the complexity of love partners as individuals who become aware that their marriage is not torn by any particular event or mistake, resulting in a radically honest story that allows the audience to eavesdrop on the private conversations of two people torn between hatred and love. In an interview last September, she talked about the series and her vision of marriage.
'There are selfish and possessive, but also selfless loves. The story of 'Scenes from married life' is special because it shows a couple who in a complicated way find themselves in a situation where they love themselves unselfishly, without any obligation or expectation' said Jessica, referring to the filming of sex scenes.
'I grew up in poverty ' she often points out. She and her family often moved from house to house in the slums of their hometown because the family often could not pay their rent and did not have enough food. Yet all these difficult existential circumstances were made easier for the children by their mother’s warmth and care, as well as Grandma Marilyn’s love. She took care of her grandchildren and took Jessica to the movies. On one occasion, she was enchanted with the musical ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, which was enough to start dreaming about acting. But before that, Jessica had to finish high school, which was not an oasis of happiness for her. Unadjusted and rebellious, she was definitely not a favorite among her peers, but a subject of ridicule for her short red hair, freckles and pale complexion.
'They told me every day that I was ugly and that no one wanted to be my friend. I heard the cruelest insults. Therefore, if I can do anything to help young girls with low self-esteem, I will do it ' Jessica recalls. Even today, she supports her well-to-do colleagues, who at first glance do not seem to need her commitment.
'I strongly support women in Hollywood. I love Meryl Streep. She is an amazing actress. But it seems to me that she is the only one who gets roles in her age group. What about Viola Davis, for example? She is one of the greatest living actresses. Or, say, where are the Asian counterparts? ' asks the star who treated infamous high school moments by marking and retiring to solitude where she read Shakespeare's works. Due to numerous absences, she failed to graduate but did not drop out of school, and she was the only one in the family. She can also thank the Planned Parenthood charity, which distributed contraceptives to teenage girls in California.
'That is why I am the first girl in the extended family who did not get pregnant at the age of 17. I continued to dream of a better future and to achieve something in life' she said.
