‘Memory’ Director Michel Franco Was Told Jessica Chastain Would Be A “Nightmare” After Her Oscar Win: “She’s The Opposite”
Jessica Chastain stars in Michel Franco’s Memory and some people had been putting thoughts in his head that this collaboration would not happen after she won at the Oscars.
“Because I have been doing bigger things sometimes and have gotten a lot of attention as of late, [there’s been the idea] that I would not be interested in being on a set without a trailer,” Chastain said during an interview at TIFF (via IndieWire). “We had the Oscars, and I won for Tammy Faye, and then right after that, I showed up on set to do Memory. Michel said that a lot of people told him, ‘Oh Jessica is going to leave your film because she just won an Oscar.’”
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Chastain stars as Sylvia in the film written and directed by Franco about a recovering alcoholic with childhood trauma. To play the role, the star goes appears on-screen without makeup, went without a trailer and even brought her own costumes.
Franco said people were telling him she was “going to show up and be a nightmare and be a diva.”
“I told them, you don’t know half of it. She’s the opposite,” he added. “She’s going to show up satisfied, happy, and be productive. People are so afraid of actors. I don’t know why. The worst way to approach an actor or any person is with fear, and if you are pointing in the wrong direction then, yes, all your nightmares will come true.”
Chastain noted that she doesn’t do acting work “to be pampered,” adding, “If I want to be pampered, I’ll go to a spa. I’m doing a film to work and to be creative, and I don’t need to sit by myself in a trailer.”
Memory also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever, Jessica Harper, Elsie Fisher, Brooke Timber and Josh Charles.
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