At an early age, Jessica Chastain performed under her mother’s maiden name in productions of Shakespeare’s works, such as Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet, around the San Francisco Bay area. At the urging of another actor in Romeo and Juliet, Chastain applied to Juilliard and was accepted, assisted by the help of a scholarship founded by Juilliard alum Robin Williams.
Jessica is close to her grandmother, Marilyn, who grew up in Kansas. Jessica says that 'she always kind of wanted to be an artist and an actress, but as a young woman in the '50s, she wasn't really given the opportunity. She was told to marry young and have children young, and be a mom.' Her grandmother is the one who took Jessica to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as a child. She is also the one who bought Jessica a ballet tutu for Christmas as a girl and enrolled her in ballet classes. She also flew with her to Juilliard for her audition and later helped her move into the dorm. Jessica says her grandmother is the wild one in her family and encourages Jessica to be more showy and sensual in her acting. She was called 'Motorcycle Mama' by Jessica's elementary school classmates. Jessica discusses her grandmother on Conan
Actress Jessica Chastain studied her craft at the Julliard School in New York, before launching into her professional career. After landing a few appearances on TV shows like Veronica Mars and ER, Chastain eventually landed the title role in the 2008 independent film Jolene, and soon found herself in other prominent roles, like a Mossaad agent in the 2009 mystery The Debt, though that film didn't reach American screens unti 2011, a year in which Chastain seemes to be in every movie.
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