A Beautiful Mind

Among all the stars in Hollywood, Jessica Chastain is quite unlike the others. As mysterious as she is about her private life, she never hesitates to speak up about social issues, especially gender equality issues and mental health. She truly is a celebrity with a conscience.

- Kim Morgan

This multifaceted lady juggles between actor and producer with great intensity. Powerful and sensitive, she always has a voice. So much so that after any interaction with her, you almost feel overwhelmed. The redhead, born in California in 1977, is not only strong and intelligent but can also play emotional roles like in The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick or Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow, for which she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Film. We catch up with the ravishing Jessica Chastain, and she talks about her work with Liv Ullmann, her love for Clara Bow and shares her opinion on the place of women in cinema.

You are currently shooting for a Susanna White film, Woman Walks Ahead, the story of Catherine Weldon, who went to Dakota to help an Indian chief conserve his land. Tell us about your experience.

The life and works of this woman really moved me. In school, one rarely ever speaks of women and history, it is too often written only by the victorious. And largely, these do not include women, American Indians or other minorities. A lot of these heroes remain in the shadows. The story of Catherine Weldon and the chief, Sitting Bull, overwhelmed me because it is about one person helping the other. It is the adventure of two people living in the 1890s, in two different worlds, where they are not considered equals. This woman did not have the right to vote, and she takes the risk of going on this adventure with Sitting Bull.

Another fascinating story is that of The Zookeeper’s Wife, by Niki Caro. How different was it?