“Never cast an unknown opposite Brad Pitt”: Jessica Chastain Was Not Even Considered Famous Enough to Audition For Brad Pitt’s Movie
Jessica Chastain, one of the best actors working today, has won over audiences with both her acting and her fearless thoughts on the issues that are important to her. She is well-known for appearing in films with feminist themes, and she has consistently received accolades for the way she portrays her characters on screen.
The actress made her film debut in 2008 with Jolene before becoming well-known for her roles as a strong-willed woman in Interstellar and The Martian in 2014 and 2015. The Academy Award-winning actress was reportedly informed that she wasn’t well-known enough to work in a film with Brad Pitt. Let’s learn more.
Jessica Chastain explains how an unknown was cast opposite Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life
Actress Jessica Chastain, who is known to play strong female characters on-screen, said during an interview with Vanity Fair in 2015, that she was pretty much unknown to the world before she starred in 2011’s The Tree of Life said she had decided to audition for another movie at the time, which was going to star Brad Pitt in it.
She further revealed that she didn’t audition for that movie because she heard someone say, “Never cast an unknown opposite Brad Pitt”. But then she got cast opposite the actor in The Tree of Life in which Pitt played her husband after the actor who was supposed to be in the movie decided to drop out.
Chastain said,
“And I thought, in four months, it went from ‘we’ll never cast an unknown opposite Brad Pitt, to, now, I am playing his wife. I just could feel like something in my life had clicked, and that things had started to change.”
The movie is described as an epic experimental coming-of-age drama written and directed by Terrence Malick and has been regarded as one of the greatest movies of the 2010s.
Jessica Chastain explains playing Brad Pitt’s wife on-screen
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Chastain explained that she has always tried to pick and play characters on-screen that she finds interesting and money was never really her focus. However, when it comes to playing a part opposite Brad Pitt, she said,
“I never really imagined that someday I would play his wife. It’s like, wow, is this really my life? And then you just have to get rid of that feeling and go on. He doesn’t carry himself as an international movie star and doesn’t want to be treated any differently.”
The actress, in another interview with Dinner Party, revealed that she was so tired of answering one question about the kiss she shared with the actor and said;
“It wasn’t even like that deep of a kiss, it was just like a, you know, sweet, normal husband and wife kiss at the end of the movie. And for the longest time, I would be having interviews talking about the idea of nature versus grace in this beautiful film that Terrence Malick made, and everyone would ask me about kissing Brad Pitt.”
She lastly added that she could only think during the time that she gets where everyone’s mind is at.
Jessica Chastain talks about the Chastain curse
During her interview with The Guardian, the actress stated that even though she was paired opposite the actor in The Tree of Life, the movie took some time to hit the screen, which made the actress wonder if it was the Chastain curse.
She explained,
“Last year, we were joking that there was a Chastain curse. I’d made 11 films in four years and for some reason they’d all been paused. I’d tell my friends and family, ‘I swear to you, I’m in this movie with Brad Pitt!’ Or I’d meet with a film-maker and I’d go, ‘I really want to do your movie – but if you put me in it, it may not come out for years’”.
The movie, which is described as a much quieter project compared to the commercial success projects Pitt had been part of, was out in 2011 and was highly appreciated by the audience and the critics.
