”It was after my second year I found I got that scholarship… It paid for not only all my schoolwork, but it paid for my apartment, and my books, and my flight home to see my family for Christmas,” she recalled.
Though she never met him before his passing in 2014, she sent him countless letters of thanks.
Her performances that year earned critical acclaim, leading to Academy Award nominations for portraying an ambitious socialite in The Help and a determined CIA analyst in Zero Dark Thirty.
Her most famous role
Suddenly, the relatively unknown actress found herself right in the heart of Hollywood’s hustle and bustle.
”Walking down that red carpet with Sean Penn holding one hand and Brad Pitt holding the other, and everyone’s like, ‘Who is this girl in the yellow dress? Who is this person?’ I knew that that red carpet, after having that premiere, it would just be a turning point in my life,” she shared.
The Help was a huge success, grossing $216 million at the box office and becoming her most widely seen film to that point.
But most people probably remember her for her role in Interstellar (2014), which brought her recognition with audiences around the world. With a budget of $165 million, the high-profile film, co-starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, was shot primarily using IMAX cameras.
She played the adult daughter of McConaughey’s character and was drawn to the project by the emotional depth of the father-daughter relationship. Interstellar went on to gross over $701 million worldwide, making it her highest-grossing live-action film to date.
Strong feminist themes
And now you might be starting to guess who our star is… yes, it’s Jessica Chastain!
The American actress and producer has gained a reputation for choosing roles and projects with strong feminist themes. That approach has helped her escape being typecast as just a sex symbol, giving her the freedom to explore a wide range of roles across different films.
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