Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain
Chastain at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Jessica Howard March 29, 1981 (1981-03-29) (age 30) Northern California, U.S.
Education	Juilliard, New York
Occupation	Actress

Jessica Chastain (born March 29, 1981) is an American film and television actress.

Early life

Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her father is a firefighter and her mother is a vegan chef;^[1][2] Chastain is also vegan herself.^[3] She took her mother's maiden name as her stage name.^[4] She attended The Juilliard School in New York City thanks to a scholarship made available by Robin Williams. While there she was an active participant in the drama department and starred in several theatrical productions and student film projects. She is quoted as saying, "It kind of set me up that no matter what I work on in the future it will never be as hard as the four years at Juilliard."^{[citation needed]}

Career

Chastain at the Berlin Film Festival 2011

Her first professional role came in 2004 for a TV movie adaptation of Dark Shadows. She later appeared in such television series as ER, Veronica Mars, Close to Home, and Law & Order: Trial By Jury.

In 2008, she made her film debut as the title role in Jolene, for which she received the Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress.

Her next film role, portraying a young Mossad agent in John Madden's The Debt, premiered at film festivals in 2010 and had its theatrical release delayed until August 2011.^[5]

She has a number of other projects scheduled for release in 2011, including Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and the psychological thriller Texas Killing Fields.^[6][7]

Chastain has also completed a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Salome alongside Al Pacino and has filmed supporting roles for other adaptations such as Coriolanus and The Help. Her most recently announced project is John Hillcoat's prohibition era drama, The Wettest County in the World.^[8]

Filmography

Chastain at a ceremony for Sissy Spacek to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2011

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Jolene	Jolene	Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2009	Stolen	Sally Ann
2011	Tree of Life, TheThe Tree of Life	Mrs. O'Brien	Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress (also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, and Take Shelter)
2011	Help, TheThe Help	Celia Foote	Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress (also for Coriolanus, The Debt, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life)
2011	Debt, TheThe Debt	Young Rachel Singer	Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress (also for Coriolanus, The Help, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life)
2011	Wilde Salome	Salome
2011	Take Shelter	Samantha LaForche	Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress (also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, and The Tree of Life)
2011	Texas Killing Fields	Detective Pam Stall
2011	Coriolanus	Virgilia	Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress (also for The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life)
2012	Wettest County in the World, TheThe Wettest County in the World	Maggie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Dark Shadows	Carolyn Stoddard	TV film
2004	ER	Dahlia Taslitz	Episode: "Forgive and Forget"
2004	Veronica Mars	Sarah Williams	Episode: "The Girl Next Door"
2005–2006	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Assistant District Attorney Sigrun Borg	4 episodes
2006	Close to Home	Casey Wirth	Episode: "The Rapist Next Door"
2006	Blackbeard	Charlotte Ormand	2 Episodes: TV Film
2006	Evidence, TheThe Evidence	Laura Green	Episode: "Pilot"
2007	Journeyman	Tanna Bloom	Episode: "Friendly Skies"
2010	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Mary Debenham	Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express"

References

1. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/movies/jessica-chastain-of-the-help-and-the-tree-of-life.html
2. ^ http://www.elle.com/Fashion/Fashion-Spotlight/Fashion-Spotlight-Jessica-Chastain
3. ^ Jessica Chastain: Gaining 15 Pounds for The Help Was "Torture" - UsMagazine.com. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
4. ^ http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/5-things-you-dont-know-about-jessica-chastain-brad-pitts-costar-2011255
5. ^ Hot Red Head Rodeo Queen Takes to 'The Fields'
6. ^ Jessica Chastain joins Sam Worthington film
7. ^ Jessica Chastain Takes Up Residence in The Fields
8. ^ Jessica Chastain joins Prohibition era drama, Reuteurs Canada, 13 December 2010

External links

• Jessica Chastain at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Chastain,Jessica
Alternative names
Short description	American actress
Date of birth	29 March 1981
Place of birth	Northern California, United States
Date of death
Place of death