Jessica Chastain has had one of the most low-key Oscar campaigns in recent Oscar history. It wouldn’t be so notable except for the fact that Chastain will walk into the Dolby Theater the favorite for the Best Actress Oscar. Chastain has largely been out of LA for months during the prime “Oscar campaign” season. She’s been working on George and Tammy, a miniseries where she plays Tammy Wynette to Michael Shannon’s George Jones (theirs was one of the messiest love affairs in Nashville history). Jessica did a full promotion for The Eyes of Tammy Faye last fall, but she’s only attended a couple of events in 2022. She’s brought a new energy to the Oscar race: a lack of neediness. A touch of ambivalence. It works.

Even more than that, Chastain is here to remind everyone that she also produced The Eyes of Tammy Faye and she made most of the hires for the film. Meaning, she knows all of those “below the line” people, the same people whose Oscar categories will not be shown on television. Makeup people. Hair stylists. So Chastain has said that she’ll probably skip the Oscar red carpet so she can be inside the Dolby Theater to support the Tammy Faye team:

While most of Hollywood has had strong words about the decision [to remove eight categories from broadcast], one Oscar nominee is matching hers with actions. Jessica Chastain, who is nominated for Best Actress for her role in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” has announced that she is willing to miss out on the red carpet in order to be with her film’s makeup team when their category is announced.

“I will absolutely be present when the makeup category is being called, and if that means I’m not doing press on the red carpet or ABC or whatever it is, then so be it,” Chastain said in an interview on the Next Best Picture podcast.

“The most important thing for me is to honor the incredible artisans who work in our industry,” she said. “So much attention is on the actors. We’re like the face, in some ways, because you go to a movie and you see us. A lot of people don’t understand how beyond an actor a performance is. Look at this incredible makeup team. ‘Tammy Faye’ goes through three decades.”

[From Indie Wire]

While I generally don’t like it when an actor is given awards for basically sitting in the makeup chair for ten hours, I have to say that I didn’t really mind Chastain’s Tammy Faye transformation. In the “early years” part of the movie, they did something to her cheeks and jawline to give her a more “square” face like Tammy Faye, but it does look pretty realistic. The makeup was such a huge part of the Tammy Faye character too. Anyway, I love that Chastain is actually saying that she’ll avoid the Oscar red carpet – one of the biggest red carpets in the world – just to ensure that she’ll be with her Tammy Faye team when their category is called. Jessica’s a real one.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red & ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ production stills.