Jessica Chastain Talks 'Molly's Game' and Finding the Power to 'Heal a Broken System'
Jessica Chastain is playing by her own rules.
At 40, the Sacramento, California, native has racked up two Oscar nominations (for 2011's The Help and 2012's Zero Dark Thirty) and made an indelible mark on Hollywood – not just as an accomplished actor, but as an outspoken advocate for social justice.
She consistently opts to play well-written women — a term she far prefers to the much used "strong women" since, as she says, "all women are strong women" — and has been a steady champion of underrepresented groups in and out of the industry.
Chastain's latest big-screen project is Molly's Game, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of world-class skier turned high-stakes poker queen Molly Bloom. The dazzling biopic is screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut and requires Chastain to deftly transform from athlete to savvy businesswoman to FBI target in the span of two hours and 20 minutes.
She does it with ease, all while speaking fast-paced "Sorkinese" opposite a host of men, including Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, and Michael Cera.
On her recent trip to Sydney, Chastain sat down with TheFIX's Ashley Spencer and opened up about Molly's "glorified man cave," fighting for change, and an unabashed love of CrocodileDundee:
On what's really at play in Molly's Game
"It's the most incredible story of this woman who was on the fast track to the Olympics, this freak accident happens, and she ends up running the most exclusive high-stakes poker game in the world. But, in reality, it's a glorified man cave. It has movie stars and athletes and tech billionaires involved. It's interesting to see her trying to navigate those rules of that power structure."
On Hollywood making much needed changes
"The great thing that's happening in Hollywood and in multiple industries in the United States – I'm not that familiar with anything that's happening here in Australia – is that more people are having a discussion and a conversation and working together to try to heal a broken system. I know when that happens, multiple things will be fixed: wage inequality, sexual abuse, and harassment. Any time you have one demographic that's in charge of another demographic's livelihood, you're going to have abuses of power."
On helping co-star Octavia Spencer earn 5x her asking salary
"I think everyone has the power to do something. I made a speech at the Critics' Choice Awards a few years ago about the need for our industry to become more inclusive. And right after that, I went to do press and some journalist was like, 'I love your speech. What are you going to do about it?' So, it's more about what are you going to talk about? What are you actually going to contribute? So I started my production company [Freckle Films], and every day I looked, like, what can I do to help create opportunities for other people?
"I think everyone can do that. You don't have to be an actress or producer to be able to do that. Your dollar, your money holds power. The movies that you choose to see – Are you going to Wonder Woman? Or Molly's Game? Stories about women? That's a huge way of evoking change."
On her plans to direct
"There was a script about a year ago that I read that I thought, 'Ah, OK. I never thought about directing, but this script makes me want to direct it.' I was going to direct for a while, but it just didn't work out for multiple reasons. For me it's more about the story, a story that I feel needs to be told will lead me."
On her excitement for the Dundee "sequel"
"I'm a fan of Crocodile Dundee. I'm a fan of Chris Hemsworth, having worked together I think he's so sweet and so talented. And then Danny McBride, I think he's hysterical. So, I can't wait." [Ed. Note: Sadly, the Dundee project turned out to be a Super Bowl ad spot, and Chastain is likely just as disappointed as the rest of us.]
Molly's Game is in Australian cinemas now.
