Shape-shifting

In the movie’s teaser, Chastain as the malevolent Other Mommy contorts into a demonic, spindly shape underneath a kitchen island in an impressive jump scare that some viewers felt was so effective it warranted a trigger warning from theaters.

The role marks Chastain’s much-anticipated return to horror, her first since 2019’s It: Chapter Two (based on Stephen King’s novel), in which she portrayed the adult version of heroine Beverly Marsh. Chastain has previously worked with horror icons like Andy and Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It) and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak); her experience in the category was alluring to director Rob Savage, who told Empire magazine that her performance in the film has the potential to consecrate her as an “iconic horror villain”.

“[Jessica Chastain is] horror royalty,” Savage told the film outlet. “She comes from horror. She loves horror. She understands horror.”

Chastain “loves” being crowned a scream queen. “I kept saying, ‘Am I scary enough?’ to Rob,” she says with a wicked laugh. “I was, like, I just don’t feel that scary. And then they were, like, ‘No, no, no. You’re scary!’”

In Other Mommy, Chastain plays both the thing that goes bump in the night and a woman with final girl energy – the archetype that first made her fall in love with horror as a young cinephile. Back then, Chastain felt “disillusioned” by the representation of female characters on screen, until she saw Alien for the first time. Finally, she saw a woman she “recognized”.

“I saw Sigourney Weaver just kicking so much ass,” Chastain says. “I knew women to be another way that the media wasn’t really presenting. I fell in love with [horror] because I realized, usually, the girl is the hero and she defeats the monster. Usually, she’s the one who lives at the end. We weren’t seeing that in other genres.”

Returning to her horror roots offered Chastain the chance to explore a different kind of female power, one in which there is triumph and strength, but also duality. The chance to play both Ursula and Other Mommy meant she could portray “the shadow sides of motherhood.”

“The most dangerous animal in the animal kingdom is [a] mother,” says Chastain. “There’s something about the ferocity that is ‘mother’ that I really love.”

While the maternal experience is often illustrated in the media as marvelously idyllic, Chastain was drawn to Other Mommy for its dedication to the often gruesome and ghastly aspects of motherhood, even down to its womb-like color motifs. “It’s very female-forward, this movie,” she says. “I like to challenge the expectation that women are supposed to be grateful for everything – that includes motherhood.”

As the monster, Chastain leaned into the physicality of the entity’s tension, manipulation and furor to gain Bela’s trust. “I thought, ‘What if it’s painful to hold the shape of Ursula?’” – leading to the acting decisions that have become the film’s most stirring marketing images: Chastain wearing a painfully twisted, dark smile, the tendons of her neck jutting out as the entity strains to contain its brutality.

Chastain relishes demanding work, although these days she has become more forensic about what it will cost her. She now scans prospective scripts for night shoots. “I wake up with the sun,” she says, explaining that if she comes home after staying up all night shooting, she finds it difficult to sleep. Experience as a producer has changed the thought process, too: she now considers the technical aspects of making a film and asks herself, “Is it going to be a healthy experience for me to be in?”

She is an eternal student, increasingly literally. She is working towards a Master in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School, although work has temporarily intervened. “I’m feeling like such a slacker because I’ve taken a leave of absence,” she says. With the releases of Other Mommy and Heartland colliding with term time, she realized she would miss too much. “It’s hard with the life that I have doing it, but it’s important to me.”

Learning is what drives her artistic philosophy, with most of her yeses boiling down to three questions: “Am I working with people who inspire me? Am I challenging myself? Am I challenging society?”

The Oscar winner has made a formidable career out of what she calls “shape-shifting”, accomplishing an uninterrupted run of playing layered female characters she can “disappear” into. Since her mainstream breakthrough in the 2010s, Chastain has starred in titles by film’s most notable auteurs (Nolan, Scott, del Toro, Sorkin, Bigelow) and collected Hollywood milestone after milestone. In 2025, she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and this year, her production company Freckle Films celebrates its 10-year anniversary.

Freckle Films has extended Chastain’s authority as an advocate for women in Hollywood and fortified her agency both in front of and behind the camera. She has aimed to use her role as an executive to “make [seats] at the table for everyone”, while wielding her liberty as a performer to “push boundaries on what people believe a woman can be in society”.

A prime example is Freckle Films’ The Savant, the Apple TV thriller in which Chastain portrays an undercover investigator who infiltrates online hate groups to prevent extremist attacks. The limited series, which is inspired by a true story, was intended to debut in September 2025 but was postponed by the streamer due to the sensitivity of its storylines following the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk that same month. We speak a few days before the news of its rescheduled air date breaks, and Chastain is excited to confirm a spring 2027 release. The Savant’s delay was a test of both stewardship and grit for Chastain.

“I felt responsible to a lot of people, to all of the actors in the series… to the real person I played, I felt accountability to her because of the sacrifices that she’s made and the difficult things she’s done to keep us all safe,” Chastain says. “I really had to go on record that I thought [the postponement] was a mistake… I learned that it’s OK to be honest. You can be honest in a kind and respectful way and feel like you’re still speaking your truth, you’re still authentic to who you are without being fearful of – I don’t know – I guess of never working again. Again, women are [supposed] to feel grateful. Well, we can be grateful and we can also be honest about things. We can be both things at once.”

If Chastain has built a career testing boundaries on screen, there is one she has remained hugely disciplined about. From her earliest interviews, she established a firm line around her family and private life and has held it ever since. Has she ever regretted it? “Oh God, no. Absolutely not,” she says. “It’s the best decision I’ve ever made about the industry, is keeping that up.”

She is slightly more forthcoming about what might be on the cards professionally. Asked whether another Broadway run is approaching, Chastain is tantalizingly tight-lipped. “I am not allowed to say,” she says. “But you’re getting warmer.”

And she’s game to discuss one of the main themes of her 2027 vision board, a hobby she used to indulge in when she was younger by cutting up magazines, making collages and placing them in her day planner.

“I love decorating for the holidays,” she says with childlike whimsy. “I do crazy stuff with huge giant inflatable spiders and scary scarecrows – and all that brings me so much joy. The cupcakes with the eyeballs. Halloween. Christmas. I have an inflatable giant bunny for Easter outside my house… I love it all. That’s my vision board [theme]: embrace more camp.”

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