Marie Claire’s April cover story is devoted to Time’s Up, and the “changemakers” inside the entertainment industry. It feels odd to use Jessica Chastain as the vehicle we’re using to discuss the cover story, but that’s my choice, because Chastain is possibly the biggest name involved. Other women profiled/included in this piece are: Ava DuVernay, Constance Wu, Tessa Thompson, Angela Robinson, Naomi Scott, Andrea Riseborough, Mira Sorvino and lots more. You can see MC’s full cover package here. I like that they’re trying to draw attention to the women – many of them women of color – trying to affect change behind the scenes. Here’s some of what Jessica Chastain had to say:
Jessica Chastain isn’t afraid to speak her mind — but it wasn’t always easy for the actress. The 41-year-old Oscar nominated actress opened up about regretting standing up for herself when a male executive flirted with her.
“For months, I tried to make it light, laugh it off,” Chastain said, not identifying the man, in Marie Claire‘s April “Change Makers” issue. “Now I wish I had just told him to f— off.”
Chastain has been outspoken about her experiences in Hollywood as a woman. That outspoken quality, however, has caused her to experience some backlash.
“I’ve had people tell me, ‘You need to be a little more quiet with all this woman talk,’” Chastain revealed. Despite experiencing pushback, the actress said she won’t stop speaking out about pay equality and equal opportunities for women as there are for men in the movie industry.
“I agree there are not as many women as men that have the same experience, but that’s because, in the past, women have been actively discriminated against,” Chastain explained. She continued, “Male directors who had their first film in Sundance, their next offer is a huge action movie. Women haven’t been given those opportunities, and we need to ask why.”
I go back and forth on Chastain some days. Like, I think that she’s a smart, interesting, politically-minded woman. She listens and learns and tries to be woke… and sometimes fails, but gets back up and tries again. It’s the conundrum of “why do we need to use a privileged white woman of the face of these conversations” though, and obviously, I’m guilty of it too. I don’t have one overarching point here – I think the conversations are happening and Jessica is a part of those conversations, and even she would probably admit that she shouldn’t be the face of Time’s Up or whatever, but she’s going along with it to get the cause more attention.
Photos courtesy of Marie Claire.
Is she in biker shorts on the cover photo?!
Almost as bad as the get up in the Instagram photo. It looks like a bathing suit with a weird business suit style cover up.
I think the bottom of her blazer is longer than her skirt and it makes it look like she’s wearing biker shorts. Weird that no one caught that in editing.
She’s not perfect, but she’s willing to stick her neck out and ruffle feathers. I can’t fault her for that.
I like Chastain for the most part. I think she does actively try to be woke. And fails a lot. But I do think she at least TRIES to learn from her mistakes. But I agree Kaiser. Why is she the one who’s commengs are getting the most attention? I would have loved to hear from Ava on this matter. Jessica is talking about female directors…Ava IS a female director. An Oscar-nominated one. I’m just sick of white women alwaya being the face of these conversations. Especially considering that a lot of them have major blindspots themselves.
The article gives equal time to Ava and Constance, this site is the one that only excerpted Jessica’s quotes.
Yeah, I think their comments are being split up into separate articles.
She’s been outspoken for a long time on these issues, has taken actions to improve things, and has probably gotten a good amount of push back on all of it. I’m cool hearing her perspective on all of it, as long as it’s not the ONLY perspective.
The cover has been out since early March, and I had read the quotes of Ava and Constance at the time. Maybe MC is rotating the comments on their social media? All the quotes are great though.
It was her birthday. They posted about Constance Wu on her birthday a few days earlier too.
Isn’t it more she goes on and on in these magazines but she was silent when that front page of all white women was printed! She only spoke up after and was all “That was not right!” Less talk more action. I was a huge fan but the more she talks in these interviews the more I think she’s selling me.
she not all talk though. Isn’t she the one that insisted on equal pay for Octavia Spencer on a movie they did together? Of course she shouldn’t have had to, because Octavia Spencer should have been payed equally to begin with, but she wasn’t, and Jessica Chastain stood with her rather than letting it be Spencer’s problem.
I feel bad when women have to laugh off harassment or smile through it. It’s an act of self defence in the truest sense of the word. Sadly, the “career limiting maneuver” continues to be standing up to sexual harassment vs. committing it.