When Jessica Chastain first started to get acting work and more attention, she glossed over her dirt-poor childhood and even covered up her real age. As more years passed, Chastain grew more comfortable talking about her past and owning every part of her story. She was basically the first person in her family to escape the cycle of poverty, teen pregnancy and little education. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1998, and she graduated from Julliard in 2003. Chastain is now 48 years old and the mother of two children. Well, Jessica is apparently going back to school! She’s going to Harvard to get a Master’s degree.
Jessica Chastain is pursuing a Master’s degree. Chastain, 48, has enrolled in Harvard University’s Masters in Public Administration program at the school’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, PEOPLE confirms. The actress has been seen taking classes on Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts this summer, Variety first shared on July 30, citing a source.
Chastain, who won an Academy Award in March 2022 for her performance in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, studied briefly at Sacramento City College in Sacramento, Calif. in the late 1990s before she launched her acting career. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts lists Chastain among its notable alumni as a member of its class of 1998. After AADA, Chastain also studied acting at The Juilliard School and graduated in 2003. Juilliard also bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Chastain in May 2024 in recognition of her “outstanding contributions” to the theater and film industries.
Chastain has spoken about her difficult upbringing with a single mom in Northern California in the past. In December 2024, the actress addressed her childhood during a speech at the 38th Annual American Cinematheque Awards, where she explained that her great-grandmother, grandmother, aunt and mother all had children before age 17 and “had to drop out of school and take on low-paying jobs to support their families. I was the first in my family to not get pregnant as a teenager, the first to finish high school and the first to attend college. And attending the Juilliard School didn’t just change my life. It showed my family that a different path was possible.”
Chastain’s choices have always surprised me, but this one is pretty amazing. Even though most actresses talk about how their careers slow down in their 40s, I imagine Jessica is still getting good scripts and lots of offers. She’s basically taking what, two years off of a relatively thriving career, all to be in one place and get a graduate degree. That’s pretty awesome. I also wonder if she plans to transition into another field, and maybe she’s winding down her acting career. I mean, Master’s in Public Administration? She’s running!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Jessica Chastain bei der Pressekonferenz zum Kinofilm Dreams auf der Berlinale 2025 / 75. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin im Hotel Grand Hyatt. Berlin, 15.02.2025 Foto:xC.xNiehausx/xFuturexImagex dreams_5311,Image: 964685225, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Clemens Niehaus/Avalon
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- SANTA MONICA, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – APRIL 05: American actress and producer Jessica Chastain wearing Gucci and Damiani jewelry arrives at the 11th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony 2025 held at the Barker Hangar on April 5, 2025 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 984389487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jessica Chastain, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- SANTA MONICA, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – APRIL 05: American actress and producer Jessica Chastain wearing Gucci and Damiani jewelry arrives at the 11th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony 2025 held at the Barker Hangar on April 5, 2025 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 984389573, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jessica Chastain, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
How fabulous!! I give her a lot of credit, and wish her success and happiness.
I believe it was Jessica Chastain who aligned herself with Octavia Spencer to demand parity in their salaries on films where they were signed together. This family background makes a lot of sense both in that decision and in her desire for further education in public administration. She seems like a good, decent person with a real sense of empathy towards those who have historically had less than others, and I expect she’ll make an excellent public servant (fingers crossed!) Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a celebrity in public service who is actually intelligent, compassionate, and talented?
Also, please get yourself a man who looks at you the way Oscar Isaacs looked at her… This woman is winning at life.
Wish this comment board had like/love emojis, totally love your comment.
She’ll have my vote!
Good for her!! She made sure her life was different from her grandmother and mothers life and is being a great role model for her children that you can get what you want but you have to work for it and getting educated is part of that no matter how old or young you are it’s important.
OMG, I just asked for the universe to give me a sign and this is it! I am 37 and I will, in fact, go for (another) Masters this fall!
I’ve done all the preparations and meetings about it, but I wanted to be sure.
So – I am sure. Thank you, Jessica and Celebitchy 😁
Go you!!
As a real old (37? you’re still a gorgeous young lady!) who is also going back to school for a new degree in September…I celebrate with you! Trust your instincts and go for it!
and as my spirit animal Michelle Yeoh said when she hoisted up her Oscar, “Never let anyone tell you you’re past your prime!”
I applied to start a Master’s in the Spring of 2026 yesterday. I just turned 63 a week ago. I received my Bachelor’s in 2010, so I’m kind of a late bloomer I guess!
Keep learning and pursuing education. It’s good for our brains.
YASSSS!!!!
Happily retired but eager to learn…and online classes/certificates/diplomas/etc are so much more sophisticated now, it’s not just staring at a screen with a lecturer on Zoom. There’s webinars, online boards with your fellow students and/or professors, courses on every topic imaginable, lots of different fellow students from all over the world…so fun!
Brava!
My sister got her PhD at age 58. I attended her dissertation defense via Zoom and cried, I was so proud.
Congratulations!
That’s what my dad did 65 years ago!
I luv her.
I wonder if she’ll eventually run for president of SAG-AFTRA. More than one person has used their elected union position to transition to public service and politics.
Wow, getting into the Harvard Kennedy School is impressive! I’m sure UCLA, Berkeley or Stanford have similar public administration/public policy programs, and they’re both great schools (even if in some peoples’ minds Kennedy is the tippy top), and presumably she lives in CA and they’re in her backyard. She’s really committing to this.
Not to be snide, but celebs getting into the Kennedy school is really not much of an accomplishment, I think entrance is essentially assured if they’re interested. But still good on her for embracing additional/ongoing education, that’s always to be celebrated even if her fame did open the door wide for her.
Ashley Judd did the same program, graduating in 2010. With Hollywood making fewer films, especially lower budget and/or indie dramas starring older actors, I’m not surprised Moore’s looking for a new avenue for her energies. She doesn’t seem to be the sort to start some sketchy side hustle business. Hell, even Keanu Reeves is doing documentaries instead of churning out the hit or miss indie fare he did in between big Hollywood movies.
Having the degree will mean that she, like Judd, can take real positions in campaigns or organizations, not just be a spokesperson.
Moore?
Don’t know about Moore, but I’ve always thought Jessica Chastain is a beautiful person inside and out. This latest move just makes me admire her more. And it doesn’t matter whether she’s doing it for a practical reason to use in organizing or politics, or just for her own edification. Either way it’s awesome.
Do you mean Julianne Moore?
I applaud her because the bootstraps narrative is fiction. Occasionally someone has the magical combination of smart, attractive, and determined, and they break those ceilings. She’s clearly in that category because she’s already proven her talent and intellect, so this next step is pure ambition and personal growth.
JV Dance could have been that person to show what’s possible with the right combination of circumstances, but instead he chose evil. If she goes forth in public service or politics to encourage people to pursue more than what birth gave them with no BS about how bootstrapping is possible for anyone, she’ll have my total support.
Go Jessica!
Brava!
Very strange coincidence — I am slightly dragging today because I started watching Zero Dark Thirty last night and couldn’t stop. You can’t take your eyes off her even though she’s surrounded by other very good actors — it’s crazy.