Jessica Chastain is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.
Chastain developed an interest in acting from an early age and made her professional stage debut in 1998 as Shakespeare's Juliet. After studying acting at the Juilliard School, she was signed to a talent holding deal with the television producer John Wells. She was a recurring guest star in several television series, and took on roles in several stage productions. After making her film debut at age 31 in the drama Jolene (2008), Chastain had her breakthrough in 2011 with six film releases, including the dramas Take Shelter (2011) and The Tree of Life (2011). She received Academy Award nominations for playing an aspiring socialite in the period drama The Help (2011) and a CIA analyst in the thriller Zero Dark Thirty (2012).
Greater commercial success came with the science fiction films Interstellar (2014) and The Martian (2015), and the horror film It Chapter Two (2019). Chastain received further acclaim for playing strong-willed women in the dramas A Most Violent Year (2014), Miss Sloane (2016), and Molly's Game (2017), and the television miniseries Scenes from a Marriage (2021). She went on to portray Tammy Faye Bakker in the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Tammy Wynette in the miniseries George & Tammy (2022).
She made her Broadway debut in the revival of The Heiress (2012) and returned in another revival A Doll's House (2023). Chastain is the founder of the production company Freckle Films, which was created to promote diversity in film, and is an investor in the soccer club Angel City FC. She is vocal about mental health issues, as well as gender and racial equality. She is married to fashion executive Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, with whom she has two children.
Chastain made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live on January 20, 2018, the eleventh episode of Season 43, with musical guest Troye Sivan.