Jessica Chastain Quotations

I'm the first person in my family to go to college.

I don't really drink, and I've never been to a rave. I used to cut school to read Shakespeare, not to make out in the park.

When something happens, I always check myself and know it's going to go away. So be prepared for it. This is a tough business for actors who are sensitive. If you try to hold on to things, you'll go crazy.

There is this immediate connection, this intimacy when you're acting because there's no room to be polite or shy. Also, as an actor I get to connect with women I've never met before.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I don't think anyone knew what to do with me.

Whatever anyone says, I think the opposite will happen.

I've had to learn how to say 'no' to offers.

No one ever recognizes me.

I've never been in New York for the whole time of Fashion Week.

I'm used to working really hard to get a role. I was always auditioning and talking my way into roles.

I have a feeling that very soon I'm going to fail very, very big. I'm going to try something and everybody's going to be like, 'What was she thinking?

I don't want people to look at me.

I can't even open my eyes underwater.

Broadway has always been a dream of mine.

I’m very shy, I feel very awkward.

And to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and racist agendas. I'm an optimist. And I can't help but feel hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all these beautiful people in this room. Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' And I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up.

It takes me a LONG time to make a big purchase.

Before, it was just about making the films - and now it's releasing them. Which is a steep learning curve.

I don't want to be in my car all day. I love getting up in the morning in Venice and walking my dogs down to the cafe to get my tea, and then perhaps going to a bookstore and sitting and reading, then walking to the beach.

I'm inspired by people who are so sensitive and vulnerable that they try to cover it up.

People were confused by me, and at first I was auditioning a lot for the crazy characters or the victim, someone who'd been attacked. Which is great, because usually those are the best acting roles.

It's a fact, the majority of films in Hollywood are from the male perspective. And the female characters, very rarely do they get to speak to another female character in a movie, and when they do it's usually about a guy, not anything else. So they're very male-centric, Hollywood films, in general. So I think it's incredible that Ned Benson, when I said I'd love to know where she goes, says okay, I'm going to write another film from the female perspective.

Where is the Scarlett Johansson superhero movie? I don't understand it, why is it taking so long for this? This woman clearly shows that people want to go see her in the movies. ‘Lucy,’ didn't it beat ‘Hercules’ by a lot opening weekend, when it was made for a lot less? She shows that she kicks ass, she's a great actress. ‘Under the Skin’ is an incredible film, and why are we still waiting for a go-ahead on a superhero movie starring Scarlett Johansson? To me, it's a no-brainer. You want to make money, put Scarlett Johansson in a superhero movie!

It's easier to do an action scene than a love scene. I love fighting. When the camera's not rolling, I'll usually punch some of the actors, just for fun.

I try not to fake anything.

I think both nature and grace live within everyone, and I always strive to be in a world of grace and compassion.

I love being around great actors and film-makers, and I try to hide the fact that I'm in awe of them.

I love fall because I love the whole cuddling aspect of it, and a sweater dress has that vibe of I'm going to hunker down and be warm, but it's also very feminine.

I think that with any emotion - fear, love, nervousness - if the actor's feeling it, then the audience feels it.

Robin Williams was the kind of generous person who would do things but not want to receive public credit for it.

I remember being a teenager and having a boyfriend - this guy I thought I was way better than, and completely out of his league. He was a year younger than me. And he broke up with me. It was so shocking, and I couldn't believe it.

An actress friend of mine shared a great trick. She told me to stick my tongue behind my teeth when I smile to keep from over-smiling. If you smile without doing it, sometimes your gums show a little too much. It's an actor's trick!

I am the worst at keeping secrets. I am the kind of person that the second I buy someone a Christmas present, I tell them what I bought them. I don't wait until Christmas. I'm not good at it.

I don't want to torture anything. It's about trying to live a life where I'm not contributing to the cruelty in the world. While I am on this planet, I want everyone I meet to know that I am grateful they are here.

I'm really lucky because my goal, as an actor, is to disappear into the characters that I'm playing.

I'm the kind of person [who] when I'm doing a play, and even when I'm working, I don't do anything else. When I'm working, I just work.

I like things where I can do a physical transformation, and I love accents and voices, and I'm never going to play the same character twice.

I was excited that my films would finally see the light of day and people would see them. But I never imagined that such nice things would be said about a lot of my films.

I'm the unknown everyone's already sick of.

To a female superhero her sexiness is not the most important thing about her, it's her mind, her spirit, and when I look at that character that to me is an example of characters that I like to play and I think it does a great thing for women.

Any man that dates me, the thing they're gonna have to live up is my dad - he's a real hero.

I have problems because I'm very expressive, and usually red lipstick gets on my teeth and face.

I absolutely made the decision that that cannot be the reason why I'm doing a film or a job. For me, it's always about the script and whether I'm doing something that I've never done before.

If someone does something bad to you, you do something worse to them so they never mess with you again.

I'm very sensitive in real life. I cannot not cry if someone around me is crying. I will start to cry if someone is crying, even if it's not appropriate. I have that thing in me, a weakness or sensitivity.

When you're on a Terrence Malick film, it's like you're part of a family.

Put others before yourself, unselfish love, do unto others as you would have done to you.

I don't like the idea that fame could mean that people can no longer relate to me.

I don’t mind if the character is a small character, but I would just like her to have a journey in the film. Sometimes the characters are just there as a prop to further the man’s story. The great directors I’ve talked to, I’ve said listen, I don’t mind playing a woman that is a tiny part, but how does the story affect her? What can I play in the end that’s different from the beginning? Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense, because it’s just like being a prop.

I love talking about acting. I'm just such a fan of actors and filmmakers, and I try to choose roles where I get to talk to great actors about acting and learn.

I've actually been given a great gift. When I walk into an audition with a director, I'm carrying no baggage. They haven't seen me in anything, even though I've done nine films.

Okay, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm a very superstitious person. I'm walking onto the plane as we speak. I'm putting my hands on the outside of the plane and my feet are on the lip of the plane. I have to do it every time before I fly.

You know, it's recently come into focus for me why I want to be an actor: It's because of the connection I feel to people.

Every time an actress is celebrated for her great work, I cheer. For the more brilliant their performance, the more the audience demands stories about women... And as we all know: a great year for women in film, is just a great year for film.

I've spent my life being embarrassed.

The most important thing in my life, and the thing I try to focus on, is to try not to live a life of cruelty. That means trying to make sure I look people in the eye when I meet them. Sometimes you jump in a taxi, or maybe you only have two minutes with someone, and you never see them again. I try to always look them in the eye and have a real experience of what it is to communicate with someone...I guess it's about trying to live a life where I'm not contributing to the cruelty in the world....While I am on this planet, I want everyone I meet to know that I am grateful they are here.

I feel like the bigger risks that I take, the more I learn. I know that I learn more from my failures than successes.

If you don't fully take every moment and love every moment and every person that you're with, your life will be over before you realise.

I always say I am a realist, and my mom says, 'No, you just have anxiety.

It's tough, acting. You have to walk two lines of a tightrope. There's the all-consuming fear of failure: I'm about to fall flat on my face. There's that and there's also confidence - you have to be confident in order to try things - and they fight each other all the time.