Jessica Chastain in 'The Good Fight' Lensed by Jessica Chou for Marie Claire Holiday AOC Fashion

Interviews of Hollywood women have been talking female agency for about five years now. It’s gospel to say the words, but we rarely hear very specific examples of real results.

Jessica Chastain’s cover story interview ‘Jessica Chastain: The Good Fight’ for Marie Claire’s Holiday 2022/23 Issue breaks that mold.

Chastain shares a real-life example of how a scene was altered in the Showtime limited series ‘George & Tammy’, based on country music icon Tammy Wynette and her relationship with fellow musician George Jones.

Chastain explains to Marie Claire’s writer Justine Harman how major changes were made in a first-episode scene, a brilliant example of how women [and men, for that matter] can create change.

Being a Powerful Producer Helps to Create Change

With her own company behind the Showtime miniseries ‘George & Tammy’, out now, Chastain was determined to give her “Stand By Your Man’ country singer “main character energy.”

The actor takes issue with the idea that Tammy Wynette was a doormat, reminding us that Wynette was married five times.

Chastain explains that in a film where she is more than just the lead actor or co-star, she can “police the writing.” You get to say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We need to honor women as human beings. And they make their own choices—just like men do.'"

The male character of George Jones is played by Michael Shannon, who has an excellent relationship with Chastain.

As scripted, the scene went something like:
DON (picture a pencil neck with an ego): You're going to fuck my wife, aren't you, George?
GEORGE (Michael Shannon): Yes, I'm going to fuck her.
"[Michael] changed the line from, 'Yes, I'm going to fuck her'—excuse the language—to, 'I sure would like to," Chastain remembers. "The second he said, 'I sure would like to,' it was like, 'Oh, yes, this is happening. Because he sees her as someone who gets to make the decision. And that's working with an actor who's very aware he doesn't own me." Another perk of being producer? You get to pick your scenemates. "We were so in tune with one another," says Shannon, who first met Chastain on the set of 2011's Take Shelter. "The notion of sitting in front of another man and looking at a woman and proclaiming that you're going to fuck her, seems a little neanderthal to me. I mean, if I was the woman in question, I wouldn't enjoy that so much."

The ‘neanderthal’ reference was perfect, and I guarantee that multiple women reading this text will have memories of similar experiences, and many men will have memories, too.

Not only was Tammy Wynette’s life challenging, but Jessica Chastain’s own background was hardly white-picket fence worthy and an existence of white privilege.

Jessica Chastain is styled by Elizabeth Stewart in fashion from Dsquared2, Erdem, Gucci, Michael Kors collection, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, Polo Ralph Lauren, Victoria Beckham and more. Jessica Chou [IG] is behind these rich images. See Marie Claire for the fashion credits.