Ridley Scott? He’s out of this world, says Jessica
JESSICA CHASTAIN has a lot of praise for film-maker Ridley Scott, in particular for his efforts in creating choice roles for women. ‘I’ve always been a fan of Ridley’s,’ the Oscar-nominated star (right, at an Oscars party on Monday) told me recently in Los Angeles. ‘He’s a gem of a human being, for starters. And he provided so many great roles for women. Look at Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in Thelma And Louise.
‘And there was Sigourney Weaver, as Ripley in Alien. That was originally written for a man, and he changed it to a woman. That doesn’t happen a lot in our business.’
Scott has cast Chastain in his movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel The Martian.
In the new film, Matt Damon plays a scientist who gets marooned on Mars. He has limited rations and the next patrol from Earth isn’t due for another 1,412 days. ‘He’s got something like six potatoes,’ Chastain said.
She plays the mission commander, who makes the fateful decision to leave Damon behind on the red planet after her crew are caught in a huge dust storm.
‘I get to be an astronaut, with the astronaut suit,’ she told me. ‘My character’s not in the whole movie — it’s Matt’s movie. But my character’s still a badass and she’s pretty cool. She gets to go to space, and I did zero-gravity training.’
Her part’s completed, but Damon, Sean Bean and other cast members are still shooting on a sound-stage in Budapest and on location in Jordan.
The Martian is Scott’s fourth science fiction movie, following Alien, Blade Runner and Prometheus. ‘There’s a lot of real science in this,’ Chastain said, and it’s true: author Weir did extensive research.
Meanwhile, the actress is keeping her feet firmly planted on terra firma for her next movie. She just signed on for a role in The Huntsman, opposite Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron.
She’s also in talks to return to the stage for the first time since her Broadway debut two years ago in The Heiress. ‘But I’m fed up with crying — and making others cry — so I want a comedy,’ she told me.
She added that she had seen her friend James McAvoy give a brilliant comic
performance in The Ruling Class at the Trafalgar as part of Jamie Lloyd and ATG’s Trafalgar Transformed season.