Jessica Chastain only wants to play powerful film roles thank you very much

And we totally get it.

Jessica Chastain
(Image credit: Rex)

And we totally get it.

Jessica Chastain has always been known for speaking her mind when it comes to women in film, even explaining last month that she herself has received backlash for voicing her views.

Whether it’s condemning the mistreatment of women at work or calling for more representation of women in Hollywood, Jessica is at the forefront, just as she proved this week when she explained how she chooses her film roles, hinting at a need for better roles for women.

In her new film Molly’s Game, Jessica Chastain plays power woman Molly Bloom, who known as the ‘poker princess’ finds herself running the most exclusive high stakes poker games in the world.

While this strong self-made woman is an interesting role, it’s certainly not a surprising choice for Chastain who almost exclusively plays powerful complex women, from Miss Sloane’s Elizabeth Sloane to Murph in Interstellar - she was even recently announced to be starring as Jane Vasko in the upcoming action film, Adventure Jane.

Opening up in a Sky News interview with the film’s writer and director, Oscar-winning Aaron Sorkin, Jessica explained how this is no coincidence, explaining how she chooses her roles.

‘I feel like I just want to play well-written women,’ the 40-year-old explained. ‘I think when people see the characters that I play they feel very powerful, but I think that's because it's not normal in the film industry to have such strong female characters, well-written female characters.

She continued: ‘Women who aren't defined by a relationship or man in their life but about what they say and what they do. That's what I'm interested in playing. That's what I seek out.’

Later, when talking about the state of Hollywood and its mistreatment of women, Sorkin explained, ’We shouldn't act like the state of the industry is something that just happened two months ago. The fact is, it would appear as if it has been like this for quite some time - if not from the beginning - and everything is coming out of the closet now.’

Molly’s Game is out in cinemas now.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.