Sonia Recchia/Getty
Jessica Chastain’sOscarwin did not go to her head, saysMemorydirector Michel Franco.
The pair recently screened their new drama at theToronto International Film Festival, where Franco toldIndieWirethat some in Hollywood had suggested Chastain, 46, would be difficult to work with afterher Best Actress Oscarwin forThe Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Franco, 44, recalled to the outlet how he was told Chastain may “show up and be a nightmare and be a diva” after she won her first Oscar.
“I told them, you don’t know half of it. She’s the opposite. She’s going to show up satisfied, happy, and be productive," the director said. “People are so afraid of actors. I don’t know why. The worst way to approach an actor or any person is with fear, and if you are pointing in the wrong direction then, yes, all your nightmares will come true.”
Chastain added: “Because I have been doing bigger things sometimes and have gotten a lot of attention as of late, [there’s been the idea] that I would not be interested in being on a set without a trailer."
“We had the Oscars, and I won forTammy Faye, and then right after that, I showed up on set to doMemory. Michel said that a lot of people told him, ‘Oh Jessica is going to leave your film because she just won an Oscar,' " Chastain recalled.
Peter Sarsgaard (left) and Jessica Chastain (right) in ‘Memory’.Teorema/High Frequency Entertainment/Screen Capital/MUBI/Case Study Films
Teorema/High Frequency Entertainment/Screen Capital/MUBI/Case Study Films
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Chastain added that she does not work on movies “to be pampered.”
Chastain has been able to appear at recent film festivals and promoteMemoryamid theongoing Hollywood actors' strikebecause the film is an independent production that obtained aninterim agreementfrom the Screen Actors Guild.
Jessica Chastain, Michel Franco and Peter Sarsgaard attend the “Memory” premiere during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival at Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 12, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Chastain stars withPeter SarsgaardinMemory. The film follows a social worker named Sylvia whose life “is blown open when Saul (Sarsgaard) follows her home from their high school reunion,” according to anofficial Venice Film Festival synopsisfor the film.
Prior to promoting the movie in Toronto, Chastain, Sarsgaard and Franco appeared together in Venice, Italy, where the actress continued toshow support for SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing strikeagainst the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
“We [actors] are often told and reminded how grateful we should be,” Chastain told reporters in Venice. “And that is the environment that I think has allowed workplace abuse to go unchecked for many decades and is also the environment that has saddled members of our union with unfair contracts.”
source: people.com
