Entertainment

Jessica Chastain Feared She Ended Her Career With Sexual Misconduct Comments

Getty Images

Font Size:

Jessica Chastain feared for her career after speaking up about sexual misconduct in Hollywood and was even surprised when she received a Golden Globe nomination because of her comments.

In an interview published by The New York Times on Monday, the “Molly’s Game” actress admitted that she was shocked by her nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) because of how vocal she’s been since the bombshell reports came out against Harvey Weinstein.

REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

“To be honest, I’m mainly surprised about my nomination,” she told The Times. “As an actor, I have a lot of fear, thinking that if I speak my mind, or something that feels like it deviates from the norm as a woman, am I going to be made to disappear in my industry?”

Like many people across Hollywood, Chastain was aware of the culture of sexual misconduct and reacted accordingly when the domino effect behind the Weinstein reports began.

“I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again,” she tweeted immediately following the reports exposing the former studio head.

“When the article came out about Weinstein, I immediately started tweeting,” she recalled. But, after a well-known actor advised her to “calm down,” she feared nobody would want to work with her because of her strong beliefs. However, her friends were able to reassure her that she would be just fine.

“I’ve got a good group of girlfriends on WhatsApp, and I said, ‘I’m really terrified I’m destroying my career right now. I wonder if people will still see me as an actress, and want to work with knowing I have these opinions,’” she told The Times. “In the way that only good girlfriends can do, they helped me eliminate fear and understand that the only way to change something that’s wrong is to change it, not ignore it.”

REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

“And rather than saying it’s an industry-wide issue, it’s more than that,” Chastain continued. “It’s a society-wide issue. We can’t ignore farmworkers or women who have been invisible.”

“We’ve been since birth in a society that makes us feel like we’re easily replaceable, that we need to be grateful for any work, and grateful for what we have,” the outspoken feminist argued. “But what that does is it limit our acknowledgment of the power we have, especially when we work together. It’s like what Margaret Mead said. ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.’ And that’s what we’re doing.”