Jessica Chastain stars in the new movie “Tree Of Life” that takes place in the 1950s and centers around a family with three boys, the eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence. The movie has been getting amazing reviews and we sat down with Jessica for an indepth interview. Check it out below.
GlobalGrind: We see you’re on crutches so guess our first question is what happened to your leg?
Jessica Chastain: This is gonna sound so idiotic. I got in a motor cross accident yesterday. I thought it would be fun and I really liked it and I went way too fast. My friend who I went with stayed in 1st gear and I was in 3rd gear on the course. I pushed myself and I shouldn’t have done it especially having a premiere today. I spent the afternoon in the emergency room yesterday because the bike fell on me and twisted my leg and those things are heavy. It’s funny cause I was laying there, and my knee snapped and I heard this popping noise and the wheels kept going and I’m pinned underneath it and I thought someone would come get me. And it felt like forever so I finally just went “Help!” It was really silly.
Does all of this feel like a little bit of a delayed reaction because so many of these films you’ve been working steadily for several years now?
JC: I’d say it’s worth the wait to be honest. It’s not so bad. If I had to wait four years for my films to come out and then I get this kind of reaction to the films, I’ll wait four years no problem. It is a bit of a delayed reaction but for me the most important part is I love acting so much and I love great filmmakers and doing scenes with other actors I really admire. That’s the exciting part about my life. So for me even though it took a long times for the films to come out, it was okay because I made eleven films. So I was constantly working with people who were completely inspiring.
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What kind of conversations did you and Brad have in creating that sort of familial closeness?
JC: We didn’t really have those conversations a lot because the one thing about me and Brad’s characters is that there is this distance. Where she’s constantly trying to reach out to him to have him open up to the family and have him love and he’s always on guard and thinking survival of the fittest and being the strong one. So in a way if we had had these bonding experiences like I had with the children it would have made our jobs harder. But the great thing about him is on set he could play that character, and as soon as the role was out he was fun, nice, sweet Brad and throwing the football with the boys out in the yard. He’s a normal guy.
What about that emotional tousle that you have with him in the house? Did you prepare for that at all?
He didn’t even know that was gonna happen to be honest. It was after the scene where he attacks the boys. I know for my character she had to clean up the house but she’s still kind of vibrating from what just happens and she’s trying to contain it. So I had to clean up the mess he made. Then we both had a couple lines that we could say if we felt like it but we shot for four minutes going back and forth, slamming dishes and talking to each other. And at one point, I don’t know why or what on earth possessed me, but I grabbed the pepper and I rubbed it on his face and I said “How do you like it” and all of a sudden he grabbed me and we’re fighting and struggling. And you could see we both looked shocked because it was absolutely real. It wasn’t like Terry said he wanted to create a physical violence between the two of us and it’s not even in the script that anything like that happens. There are these who warring ideas of grace and nature and how they react with each other but he never tried to create that or block that. He just sets the scene for something to happen, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Working with an actor who is open to being spontaneous, and emotional and inventive, and really listens to the other person you could have moments like that. When someone comes in and plans what they’re gonna do, you don’t get those accidents.
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What do you think the audience’s reaction is gonna be like to this film?
I think there probably will be a lot of mixed reactions and I hope that it’s gonna create a lot of discussion because a lot of my favorite films do. I really hope that’s the case. I feel like this film asks a lot more questions than answers. A lot of us are use to being given the answers and we just want to be entertained. This film really isn’t that. It’s not the kind of film where you say I’ve had a hard day at work I think I’m just gonna go home and watch “The Tree of Life.” I think you have to be in the mind set to be open and to then examine your life. I think it’s the kind of film where you have one idea of what you think it is, and then maybe an hour later it’s something else, and then maybe a week later, and then a year later. It’s ever changing depending on where you are when you see it.
Be sure to catch Tree of Life in theaters today.
