Category: News & Articles

Dec 29, 2021
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Movies, News & Articles, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Jessica Chastain On Wearing Prosthetics In The Eyes of Tammy Faye: “It Actually Helped Free Me In A Way”

Hollywood star Jessica Chastain found wearing prosthetics in her new movie ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ made her bring “more energy” to her performance.

Hollywood star Jessica Chastain found wearing prosthetics in her new movie ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ made her bring “more energy” to her performance.

The 44-year-old star shared that the wig, fake teeth and other physical changes she needed to play the lead role in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ made it “difficult” to connect with the audience but they also had the benefit of making her work harder to avoid being “upstaged” by her own appearance, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Jessica Chastain told Total Film magazine: “It’s very helpful because you look so much like the character. But it’s also difficult because you have to act through it, right? How are you going to reach people through all of that stuff? How are people going to see behind my eyes when my eyes are the only things exposed, you know?”

Jessica Chastain added, “But I think it actually helped free me in a way. It made me aware that I needed to bring a lot more energy than I thought was humanly possible because I couldn’t walk into a room and then just get upstaged by the look.”

The actress thinks her approach helped as it made her more like the real TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

Jessica Chastain added, “I had to be beyond it, which is what she was. Yeah everyone makes fun of her make-up and talks about how larger-than-life she was with her costumes, and her clothing, and her make-up. But her personality was much bigger than her make-up could ever be.”

Despite this, the prosthetics weren’t particularly comfortable for the movie star.

She shared: “The itching was the hardest. Sometimes you can get an itch underneath the make-up and it’s just terrible, because then you just start hitting yourself, trying to make it go away.”

Source: Koimoi.com

Dec 6, 2021
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Interviews, News & Articles

‘The Eyes Of Tammy Faye’s Jessica Chastain On Her Transformation Into Televangelist And Capturing “The Uniqueness Of Her”

In a short period since blasting out of a cannon on the big screen in Terence Malick’s Oscar nominated and Palme d’Or-winning The Tree of Life in 2011, Jessica Chastain has quickly built a resume of playing strong willed women. Alas, some are Greek tragic heroes, who reach for the stars, only to fall short; Tammy Faye Bakker being one of them. She, along with her husband Jim Bakker, built PTL into a massive multi-million dollar earning evangelical television network, a solid amount he siphoned for personal use, ultimately serving close to five years in jail. Tammy Faye Bakker meant a lot of things to a lot of people: a soulful Christian singer, a sensitive preacher who reached across the aisle to recognize the plight of LGBT during the AIDS epidemic, as well as material for late-night talk show hosts in her ambitious fashion and make-up sense. Chastain yearned to get under her skin and tells us how she prepared for the role in the Searchlight movie and produced it.

DEADLINE: When did you get the desire to play Tammy Faye Bakker? Was it after seeing the documentary?

JESSICA CHASTAIN: It was definitely after the documentary, and I saw that around the time of Zero Dark Thirty press. I was jet-lagged somewhere, and I thought, wow. First of all, I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been made before as a film. She’s such an incredible character, but I think it was also that I was disappointed with how the media had told her story. And that Steve Pieters interview for me was such a radical act of love.

She really went against what the conservative evangelicals were saying at that time, and in some sense, the fear and the homophobia that was really prevalent in society across the board. I mean, the U.S. government wasn’t even talking about AIDS. So, what she did was so rebellious, such a radical act of love, and I wanted to celebrate that, and also, I think as an actress, I don’t think there’s a scarier part to play, because really, you know, your ass is on the line. The voice, the pitch is different, the accent is different. The singing, which is so embarrassing for me. I learned her songs and learned how to sing, you know. And then, also, this wonderful, ridiculous, camp quality that she loved and embraced. I mean, there’s so much in there that is just terrifying, but really, there’s a lot to tackle with this role.

CONTINUE READING…

Nov 25, 2021
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News & Articles

Jessica Chastain On How The 355 Reframes Female Spies In Film

Jessica Chastain is hard to pin down. Her filmography so far includes sci-fi (Interstellar), drama (Scenes From A Marriage), thrillers (Zero Dark Thirty) and horror (Mama) – but with last year’s Ava and upcoming film The 355, she’s carving out a corner for herself as an action heroine.

A stylish spy movie with a stellar cast that also includes Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Sebastian Stan, The 355 takes inspiration from the code name of one of the first female spies for the United States during the American Revolution. It’s a passion project for Chastain – she pitched the idea to Simon Kinberg, after working with him on X-Men: Dark Phoenix, who became both writer and director for the project.

For Chastain, this was an opportunity to contribute something new to the female-led spy film canon. “I feel like the film industry has really got female spies wrong,” she tells Empire. “They’ve portrayed them as honeypots, and that’s not the reality of the situation. Women weren’t being used for their bodies, they were being used for their minds, which is a more interesting concept.”

The search for more challenging, expansive female roles could be, it seems, part of the reason for her genre-spanning career. “In the past seven years, I’ve really looked at the projects I’ve joined and the parts that I’ve played in terms of, ‘What difference am I making?’” she says. “‘How can I shape a conversation?’ I never really had the dream of being an action hero at all, but the reality is I’m excited to have 13-year-old girls and 13-year-old boys see women in these roles. It’s very important for society. We’ve moved against the status quo, and we’re creating our own narrative for it. This film is, in some sense, a political act.”

Source: Empireonline.com

Nov 1, 2021
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Interviews, News & Articles

Jessica Chastain + Oscar Isaac Are So Close, They Know Each Other’s Audition Horror Stories

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac go way back—to the halls of the Juilliard School of Drama, in fact. “We read each other’s minds,” says Chastain, while Isaac nods solemnly. When asked for their worst audition horror stories, she begins reciting his without hesitation. (It involved Josh Brolin, he reveals. “I can’t believe you said his name,” she laughs.)

Since becoming two of the hardest-working stars in Hollywood, Chastain and Isaac have drawn on their rapport to reunite onscreen, first in 2014’s “A Most Violent Year,” and now, leading and executive producing HBO’s critical hit “Scenes From a Marriage,” Hagai Levi’s updated adaptation of the famous Ingmar Bergman limited series. Chastain also leads this year’s Searchlight Pictures hit “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which she produced with her company Freckle Films; Isaac recently starred in both Warner Bros.’ “Dune” and Focus Features’ Gotham Award–nominated “The Card Counter.” Continue reading

Nov 23, 2020
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News & Articles, The 355

Thriller “The 355” Moves Back a Year

Universal’s “The 355,” a female-led heist thriller starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and Diane Kruger, has pushed its release date back a year.

The movie was initially set to open in theaters on Jan. 15, 2021, and will now debut on Jan. 14, 2022.

Simon Kinberg directed “The 355” from a script he wrote with Theresa Rebeck. The globe-trotting espionage thriller follows a group of international spies — a brigade that also includes Penelope Cruz and Fan Bingbing — who team up to stop a potentially world-altering event. Together, the five women form a faction called “355,” a nod to the assembly of female spies that united during the American Revolution. Edgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan round out the cast.

Universal Pictures nabbed “The 355” after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. The studio reportedly paid more than $20 million for domestic distribution rights.

Like every Hollywood studio, Universal has been forced to shake up the release calendar numerous times during the pandemic.

Source: Variety.com

Oct 30, 2020
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Appearances & Events, News & Articles, The 355

Why Jessica Chastain Founded Freckle Films and Made “The 355” – Variety: Power of Women

When Jessica Chastain received the MVP Award at the 2015 Critics Choice Awards for her performance in “Interstellar,” she spoke up about the lack of roles and stories for women across the industry. During a press conference following her speech, the actor-producer was asked, “What are your plans now on creating inclusivity?” That sparked the idea of founding her production company, Freckle Films.

“I went ‘well, okay, here I go. I need to put my money where my mouth is, and I need to start creating a company that will offer some opportunities for women and also highlight the stories that perhaps have been unheard and invisible,’” she said during a Variety Power of Women: Conversations event, presented by Lifetime and moderated by Kate Aurthur.

Last year, her company produced its first feature film, “The 355,” (now slated to debut in January 2021) that boasts actors including Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger and Chastain.

The project was first introduced to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, when Chastain found herself surrounded by action film posters featuring all-male ensembles. She looked around and said to her manager, “I have longed to work with other actresses. There’s so many people that I admire, but it feels like the industry doesn’t want us in a room together. Why do they never make stories with a group of women?”

So when casting “The 355,” Chastain put together a wish list of women actors she had hoped to collaborate with. “Everyone that I had asked to be a part of it were excited to be a part of it,” she said. “I said ‘the only thing is if you say yes, you’re the owner of the film which means you have to come to Cannes to sell the film’ — and they did.”

Kelly Carmichael, president of production at Freckle Films, explained that the creative process focused on providing opportunities for women actors to build characters they were interested in portraying in a spy film.

“Penélope Cruz, for example, had mentioned to us that she often had gotten stereotyped as this feisty Latina woman, and she wanted to play something else that showed another side of her personality that we haven’t seen her explore on screen,” added Chastain, pointing out that it was important for them to push against such typecasting practices.

Looking to the future, Chastain and Carmichael believe there are many more stories to tell with women actors and creatives. Reflecting on her initiative to produce movies, Chastain encouraged others to act toward the changes they hope to see: “You need to empower yourself, and you need to ask yourself what you can do in any industry. If you feel like there are injustice or there are flaws in a system you’re working in, change it; do what you can. Start making changes and people will follow.”

Source: Variety.com

Oct 30, 2020
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Mothers’ Instinct, News & Articles

Jessica Chastain & Anne Hathaway to star in Thriller “Mothers’ Instinct” about rival 1960’s Housewives

Euro financier Anton is launching sales on buzzy AFM package Mothers’ Instinct, which will star Oscar-nominee Jessica Chastain and Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway as 1960’s housewives whose relationship takes a dark turn.

The psychological thriller will follow best friends and neighbors Alice (Chastain) and Celine (Hathaway) who both live an idyllic traditional lifestyle with manicured lawns, successful husbands and sons of the same age. Life’s perfect harmony is suddenly shattered after a tragic accident. Guilt, suspicion and paranoia combine to unravel their sisterly bond and a psychological battle of wills begins as the maternal instinct reveals its darker side.

Writer-director Olivier Masset-Depasse will helm the feature, which is an English-language remake of his 2018 Belgian movie Duelles, which won a record nine Magritte Awards from the Belgian Academy including Best Film and Best Director.

The film is based on the novel Derrière La Haine by novelist Barbara Abel. Writer Sarah Conradt (50 States of Fright) is adapting the English-language script.

Pic is being produced by Jessica Chastain and Kelly Carmichael of Chastain’s Freckle Films (The 355), and Paul Nelson at Mosaic and Jacques-Henri Bronckart (The Nun).

CAA Media Finance arranged the film’s financing and is representing the project’s domestic rights alongside Anton. Producer and financier Anton will fully finance and executive-produce the project with Anton’s founder and CEO Sébastien Raybaud overseeing the project with John Zois, Anton’s EVP Acquisitions and Co-Productions, who negotiated the deal with CAA.

Anton’s President of International Production and Distribution, Cecile Gaget, will oversee worldwide sales at the online AFM.

Writer and director Masset-Depasse (Illegal) stated: “It takes actors of Jessica and Anne’s caliber to communicate the intricacy of these two roles. The relationship between a mother and child is the most powerful connection between two human beings. When this bond is severed, it calls into question conventional morality and even sanity. In the behind-closed-doors atmosphere of 1960’s America, Mothers’ Instinct becomes a terrifying, high-pressure powder keg.”

Anton Founder and CEO, Sébastien Raybaud commented: “Audiences could not wish for a more dynamic match-up on screen. Both character roles are wonderfully complex and will showcase Jessica and Anne’s incredible breadth of talent. Olivier has already proven adept at this twist on the Hitchcockian genre and we have great faith in his ability to deliver a compelling thriller.”

Chastain recently began production opposite Oscar Isaac on Scenes From A Marriage, an adaption of Ingmar Bergman’s 1970s miniseries for HBO. She recently wrapped The Eyes Of Tammy Faye and The Forgiven.

Hathaway can currently be seen in Robert Zemeckis’ update of The Witches and upcoming has Sesame Street and Lockdown.

Hathaway is repped by CAA, Suzan Bymel at Management 360, and by Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Chastain is represented by CAA, Paul Nelson at Mosaic, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman, and Imprint PR.

Source: Deadline.com

Oct 24, 2020
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News & Articles, Scenes From A Marriage

Jessica Chastain Re-Teams With Oscar Isaac In HBO Series “Scenes From A Marriage”

Jessica Chastain will reunite with Oscar Isaac to star in Scenes From A Marriage, the HBO limited series adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s miniseries. Deal came together after Michelle Williams exited the lead female role over scheduling issues. Limited series comes from Our Boys and The Affair co-creator Hagai Levi, Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res and Endeavor Content.

Levi is writing and directing a series adaptation that re-examines the show’s iconic depiction of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple, played by Isaac and Chastain. Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed the original 1973 Swedish miniseries, which starred Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. Bergman’s teleplay, the story of the disintegration of a marriage, drew on his own experiences, including his relationship with Ullmann.

Levi executive produces with Ellenberg via Media Res, Lars Blomgren (The Bridge), Isaac, Daniel Bergman, Blair Breard and Amy Herzog. The series is a co-production with Media Res and Endeavor Content, and Isaac and Chastain are also exec producers.

The deal reunites Chastain with Isaac. Classmates at Julliard and longtime friends, they starred together in 2014’s A Most Violent Year. Shooting will begin soon.

Source: Deadline.com

Oct 16, 2020
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News & Articles

Jessica Chastain Joins CMT Awards as Presenter

Jessica joins the CMT Music Awards as a presenter alongside other celebrities including Brandi Carlile, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Tanya Tucker, Kelly Clarkson, Idina Menzel, Diplo and Rob Thomas. Also Taylor Swift, Ashley McBryde, Kane Brown and Sarah Hyland.

The host and presenter announcements closely follow CMT’s final reveal of performers who’ll appear on the show.

The show airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 pm. CT on CMT.

Source: Variety.com

Oct 1, 2020
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News & Articles, The 355

EW’s New York Comic Con 2020 panels to feature women of The 355

It’s a weird year for in-person events, so New York Comic Con 2020 is pushing ahead with a schedule of all virtual panels about the most interesting projects in movies, TV, and (of course) comics. EW will be covering the highlights from this year’s program, but on top of that, we’ll also be involved in the proceedings. EW is teaming up with ReedPop for three panels next weekend covering The Walking Dead, Black horror, and female spies.

The panel for “The 355” will take place on October 10 at 7:50 pm ET. EW staff writer Devan Coggan sits down with the female stars of the upcoming Universal spy thriller The 355 — Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, and Fan BingBing — to discuss filming explosive fight scenes and undercover espionage.

NYCC 2020 will livestream on YouTube from Oct. 8-11. Check out the full list of panels.

Source: EW.com

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