W Magazine China’s [IG] end of year ‘The Great Performance Issue’ reports that American actor and producer Jessica Chastain is affectionately known as ‘Lady Model Worker’ by her Chinese audience. Widely-respected for her dedication to advancing projects with feminist themes, Chastain is surely touched by her Chinese moniker.

The actor wears Gucci on both covers styled by Elizabeth Stewart working with Fashion Director Austin Feng. Chastain’s splendid photographs are birthed by the recognizable eye of the immensely-talented Zhong Lin [IG]. / Hair by Renato Campora; makeup by Kristofer Buckle

Chastain is interviewed by Sharp Tee and Lue Yanni, with Lue Yanni writing the narrative.

“For an actor of her caliber, to seamlessly inhabit such a spectrum of characters is to engage in a demanding, almost sacrificial act. It requires not only the full surrender of one’s mind and body but also the forging of a brutal pact, one in which both innate brilliance and human frailties are put to the ultimate test.”

Chastain’s Oscar for ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’

The reference is to Chastain’s 20 years in the spotlight and over 70 film, TV and stage credits. She took home a Best Actress 94th Oscar [2022] for ‘‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’. Listening to her acceptance speech takes us into the mind, heart and values of Jessica Chastain, who is very comfortable speaking to her own challenging roots and the women in her family who have been her rock.

Chastain is always vocal and ready to advance constructive action around mental health issues, as well as gender and racial equality. Her acceptance speeches often address these core values that are central to her character as a caring human being.

The actor has been married to Italian businessman and Moncler fashion executive Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo since 2017. They have a daughter Giulietta, born in late 2018, and Augustus, born in 2022.

Jessica Chastain’s American Story

On December 6th, Jessica Chastain was honored at the 38th American Cinematheque Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Taking the stage to accept her American Cinematheque Award for her impressive body of work, the actor spoke very publicly about her improbable journey to this moment. Like so many women before them, her great-grandmother, grandmother, aunt and mother all became mothers before they were 17 years old. They really had no choice but to drop out of school and look for ways to support their families.

Her mother found herself to be 22 years old and with three children, facing eviction and forced to send Jessica to school on an empty stomach. The Hollywood Reporter details the actor’s remarks:

“We existed on the margins of society, but theater became my lifeline. It was a way to feel seen, to use my voice and to break free from the expectations that had bound my family for generations. I became determined to escape the cycle,” Chastain continued. “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.”

The Place of Arts Education in Unleashing ‘Ordinary Lives’

Chastain’s comments come at a time when MAGA Republicans are advancing the theory that if Jessica Chastain really had the ‘right stuff’, she would have found a way to rise without special help from The Julliard School. And they absolutely believe that funding for arts has no place in American schools. These very rigid positions come in spite of major research on childhood education and the positive impact that hands-on art activities have in children’s brain development and cognitive skills.

Checking in on the latest research, AOC has learned a new term called ‘synaptic pruning’. Certain that the Obamas were involved in brain research, President Obama launched an ambitious plan to map the human brain for the first time in 2013. The Brain Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) launched with $100m of federal funding and big additional needs. An update is in the AOC queue. Did Trump kill it in 2016, or has the research continued?

Jessica Chastain and Robin Williams

In Jessica’s case, she actually dropped out of high school [or was expelled] for too many absences. She was allowed to enroll in Sacramento City College, where she joined the debate team and became active in the drama program.

After attending Sacramento City College, completing her education at the American Academy of Theatre Arts, the focused and determined Chastain made her professional stage debut as Juliet in a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ produced by TheatreWorks in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This performance allowed her to audition for Julliard on a scholarship funded by actor and comedian Robin Williams, who is an alum of both Julliard and the College of Marin in California’s Community College system. Williams himself had received a scholarship to Julliard, where he studied under the watchful eye of John Houseman.

Returning to Beverly Hills and Chastain’s speech at American Cinematheque Awards, the actor explained that through her roles, “I’ve worked to dismantle the restrictive roles that society imposes on women. Too often, women are valued only for their sexual desirability or their function as mothers, reducing them to bodies in service of everyone but themselves.”

The actor reminded her audience that she has enjoyed significant success in acting in and producing successful box-office films that are “proof that audiences were hungry for stories of powerful, multi-faceted women.”

“As I stand here tonight, I am mindful of the state of the world, our country, our politics and the misogyny that persists. So many women are still taught to find their worth in roles defined by men,” Chastain spoke directly to the crowd of her peers. “I am so proud to be part of an industry that is really evolving. Today, films show girls that they don’t need a prince to save them, they can save the day themselves,” emphasizing the need to show little girls and boys that “a woman’s true value isn’t in her beauty or her role as someone’s partner, but in her intellect and her resilience and her strength.”

The evening had to be one of Jessica Chastain’s memorable ones with both her mother and grandmother attending the event. A few tears were shed by all, including AOC just writing about it. We have used the two phrases “true grit women” and “women with backbone” so often that we seeing both terms in print with increasing frequency.

It goes without saying that Jessica Chastain has both qualities in abundance. And we should expect to hear quite a lot from her in the next four years. ~ Anne