Jessica Chastain Biography

Born Jessica Howard, Jessica Chastain is originally from Northern California. She began taking dance lessons at the age of nine and by age 13, had been chosen as a member of a dance troupe. At that time, she also began appearing in local plays. Jessica graduated from The Juilliard School in New York City as a drama major.

In 2004, she made her TV debut in the movie Dark Shadows, playing Dahlia Taslitz. Guest appearances on TV shows such as ER, Veronica Mars and Close to Home followed, as well as a recurring role on Law & Order: Trial By Jury.

In 2008, Jessica made her film debut as the title role in the indie project Jolene opposite Dermot Mulroney, for which she won a Best Actress award at the Seattle Film Festival. Her first major motion picture was John Madden's The Debt (2010), starring Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington, followed by Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt. She also starred in the widely-acclaimed film The Help (2011), a role for which she received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. She received another Academy Award nomination in 2013 in the Best Actress category for her work in Zero Dark Thirty, about the search for Osama bin Laden.

Some of her other films include the Shakespeare story Coriolanus (2012), the western film Lawless(2012) co-starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman and Tar (2012) alongside Mila Kunis, James Franco, and Michelle Williams. She also appeared in the 2013 horror flick Mama. More recently, she starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the sci-fi film Interstellar (2014). She also starred in A Most Violent Year (2015), The Martian (2015) and Crimson Peak (2015). More recently, she starred in The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Miss Sloane (2016), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination, and alongside Daniel Brühl in the drama The Zookeeper's Wife (2017), which is based on a novel. For her role in the drama Molly's Game (2017), she was nominated for a Golden Globe.

In 2019, she joined the X-Men universe when she played the role of Vuk in Dark Phoenix (2019). In the horror sequel IT: Chapter Two (2019), she played the role of adult Beverly Marsh.

Jessica played the title role in the action crime drama Ava (2020), as an assassin who finds herself the target of the corrupt organization she works for when she's involved in a messy crime. The movie, which also stars Colin Farrell and John Malkovich, went straight to Digital/VOD due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For her lead role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye Bakker (2021), Jessica received her seventh Golden Globe nomination and third Academy Award nomination, winning her first Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony.

Jessica continues to do theater as well as film and television, and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Filmography:

The 355 (2022)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Forgiven (2021)
Ava (2020)
It Chapter Two (2019)
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Molly's Game (2017)
Woman Walks Ahead (2017)
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
Miss Sloane (2016)
The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)
Crimson Peak (2015)
The Martian (2015)
A Most Violent Year (2015)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014)
Interstellar (2014)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her
Mama (2013)
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
Lawless (2012)
Tar (2012)
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) (voice)
Texas Killing Fields (2011)
Wilde Salome (2011)
The Help (2011
The Tree of Life (2011)
Coriolanus (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)
The Debt (2010)
Stolen Lives (2009)
Jolene (2008)