On set, Jessica was dealing with numerous creative minds at one time, be it director Andrés Muschietti, his co-writer/sister Barbara Muschietti, and the legend himself, Guillermo Del Toro. On working with all three, Chastain said “They’re all cut from the same cloth…it was a very harmonious set. I can’t remember a fight on the set.” Good news! “My favorite things were the family stuff…Andy is a renaissance man…and because of that he gets lost sometimes creating something, then all of a sudden I’ll hear ‘ANDY!’ and all of a sudden Barbara starts speaking Spanish and they start going back and forth. You really see the amazing team they are, because she’s so organized and smart, and it’s like they’re two sides of the same coin.” So who could she turn to? “I could turn to both of them. Andy because he’s creative and inventive and visual. Barbara because she’s whip smart and really fun to be around.” And the third person? “Guillermo you’d turn to for humor. He’s like the captain, but he never makes you feel like a servant. Whenever he’s on set it’s like a stand-up routine, he’s great to be around.”
On the topic of horror, Jessica was asked what scares her. “Sounds in the night scare me. I moved into a new apartment here in New York and my dog always barks when someone comes in. It was a few weeks ago, I was sleeping soundly, and then he starts barking like crazy. Anything like that, waking me up in my sleep.” She went on to talk about her fears of terrifying nightmares, jumping into her parants bed paranoid a boogeyman would grab her leg if she walked too close to the bed. Then, Jessica Chastain put her teaching cap on and dropped some knowledge on all of us. “When I was a kid I had such bad nightmares I learned we get nightmares when our body overheats. If you think about it now, whenever you have a nightmare you wake up sweating and it’s really hot, it’s because your body is protecting you by creating a nightmare and waking you up. Once I figured that, it was air conditioning on and ‘We don’t need all these covers!'” When asked if she fears awards season, Jessica laughed and said she had a blast last year doing it, and wound’t hesitate to bring her grandmother along again because it reminds her to enjoy everything and not take the Hollywood life too seriously.
But Chastain always takes her roles seriously, even if she doesn’t treat the glitz and glamor the same way. Her bass playing rocker chick Annabel was no exception, as she took about five weeks of bass lessons to at least look like she’s slappin’ da’ bass (I Love You, Man anyone?) like a pro. Not only that, but she learned two songs, as director Andrés Muschietti changed the song before filming, so Chastain really worked to get a handle on her instrument. The worst part? Andy barely shot her playing in the scene after all was said and done. “Andy, you showed me for three seconds playing the bass, but I spent five weeks learning bass!”
Now in Mama, Chastain’s character struggles with taking care of the two children, as it isn’t really the life she asked for. Chastain embraced the chance though, saying “Usually in films we’re not used to our heroes being seen doing unlikable things. I liked the idea that Annabel is irritated that her boyfriend prioritizes his nieces over her because typically we would see the person understand it would be a reasonable thing to do. I found it to be a very human reaction, because she prioritizes him, why doesn’t he prioritize her, and I also found it to be immature, which also goes along with playing [Annabel].” She went on to say before a big moment in the film where Annabel experiences a heart altering event, she would always pick the selfish and more frowned upon reaction for her character, making her progression more meaningful.
Also, a word to the wise casting agents – do not typecast Jessica Chastain. “I want to do all types of films, all types of characters. If someone tries to type me, I’m super stubborn and I will do the opposite. Tree Of Life is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done, that character was the greatest gift I’ve ever been given, but the second I found out people were typing me I was like ‘I’ll show you! I’ll do the exact opposite of Terrence Malick! I’ll do a horror film! And I’m going to play the opposite of a good mother!” Chastain even went on to say what she’d love to play next; “I want to do a western, I want to do a musical – as long as I play a woman who has an arc and has something going for her other than the male counterparts.” No more serving male characters!
Now in Mama, there is an undeniable maternal aspect about the entire film. From Annabel’s striving to fight motherhood to our evil demon’s possessive love, it’s a main theme that can’t be ignored. Jessica knew this, but also wanted to make sure her character was represented in the right fashion. “I don’t want to make a movie that says women who choose not to have children are wrong, or our purpose is to be mothers, because that necessarily isn’t true. I hope to be a mother some day, but if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen, and there are other wonderful things that will happen.” With women taking a much more independent and active role in society, I do believe this is a great message that dictates gender stereotypes don’t mean diddly anymore. Andy calmed Jessica’s nerves in the first meeting with his slightly broken English by saying “It’s not that Annabel becomes a mother, but she becomes a hero of people.” In Chastain’s words, “That’s great, that’s a selfish person who rises above it and becomes selfless to become a hero of people.” Jessica also got a kick out of Andy’s English later on that meeting when instead of saying “let me put you at rest” Andy responded “Ok, let me tranquilize you now.” Not the greatest thing to say to your lead actress.
So what’s coming next for Jessica? Well, her newest role hasn’t been announced, and the actress couldn’t give us many details at all, but she did confirm “it’s pretty obscure,” keeping with the theme of varied roles. “In typical Chastain fashion, it might be a Strindberg thing,” meaning Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist August Strindberg. If there’s one thing for sure, it’s that Jessica Chastain is keeping all of us on our toes, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you to Jessica Chastain for taking the time to talk with us. Be sure to check out Mama when it hits theaters January 18th, 2013!