# List of Jessica Chastain performances
[Jessica Chastain](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-chastain) is an American actress and producer whose screen work spans an independent-film breakthrough in 2011, a run of acclaimed dramas in the 2010s, and an Academy Award for *The Eyes of Tammy Faye* (2021). Born in 1977 in [Sacramento, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/sacramento-california), she trained at the [Juilliard School](https://www.edgepedia.org/juilliard-school), where a scholarship funded by the alumnus Robin Williams helped support her studies, and was signed to a talent holding deal by the television producer John Wells before her film career began.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [2](https://as.com/us/tikitakas/cuantos-oscars-tiene-jessica-chastain-y-cuantas-veces-ha-sido-nominada-a-los-premios-oscar-n/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Film debut | Title role in the drama *Jolene* (2008)[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) |
| Breakout year | 2011: *Take Shelter*, *The Tree of Life*, *The Help*, *Coriolanus*, *Texas Killing Fields*, and *Wilde Salome*[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) • [4](https://time.com/3785928/great-performance-jessica-chastain/) |
| First Oscar nomination | Best Supporting Actress for *The Help* at the 84th Academy Awards (2012)[5](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012) |
| Signature role | Maya, a CIA analyst hunting Osama bin Laden, in *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012); Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) |
| Oscar win | Best Actress for *The Eyes of Tammy Faye* (2021) at the 94th Academy Awards[6](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf) |
| Television recognition | SAG Award for best female actor in a TV movie or limited series for *George & Tammy* (2023 ceremony)[7](https://apnews.com/article/603efd8216cc507c05a52b30f507fc5f) |
| Production company | Freckle Films, founded in 2016, New York-based[6](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf) |
## Early screen work, 2008 to 2010
Chastain's first starring film role was the title character in *Jolene* (2008), followed by *Stolen* (2010) and a supporting part in *The Debt* (2010) opposite [Helen Mirren](https://www.edgepedia.org/helen-mirren) and [Tom Wilkinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-wilkinson).[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) During this period she also worked in television, taking roles on programs including *ER*, *Dark Shadows*, and *Law & Order: Trial by Jury* through her holding deal with John Wells.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain)
## The 2011 breakthrough
Six of Chastain's films arrived in 2011, and the cluster made her reputation. She played Samantha LaForche in [Jeff Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-nichols)'s drama *Take Shelter*, Mrs. O'Brien in [Terrence Malick](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-malick)'s *The Tree of Life* (a role she obtained after [Al Pacino](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-pacino), her co-star in *Wilde Salomé*, recommended her to Malick), Celia Foote in *The Help*, Virgilia in *Coriolanus*, and Pam in *Texas Killing Fields*.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) *The Tree of Life* screened In Competition at the Festival de Cannes.[8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/) The supporting role of Celia Foote in *The Help* brought her first Academy Award nomination, in the Best Supporting Actress category at the February 2012 ceremony.[5](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012)
## Established film career, 2012 to 2019
**Zero Dark Thirty and genre range.** In 2012 Chastain appeared in *Lawless* (In [Competition](https://www.edgepedia.org/competition) at Cannes), voiced Gia in *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted*, and played Maya in [Kathryn Bigelow](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathryn-bigelow)'s *Zero Dark Thirty*, about the decade-long manhunt for [Osama bin Laden](https://www.edgepedia.org/osama-bin-laden).[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) • [8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/) The Maya role won her the 2013 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain)
Her 2013 to 2015 output mixed independent drama with large-scale productions: *The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby* (Un Certain Regard at Cannes, 2014) with [James McAvoy](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-mcavoy), *Miss Julie*, *A Most Violent Year* (another Golden Globe nomination), the scientist Murph in [Christopher Nolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-nolan)'s *Interstellar* (2014), astronaut commander Melissa Lewis in [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott)'s *The Martian* (2015), and the gothic horror *Crimson Peak* (2015).[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits) • [8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/)
**2016 to 2019.** Chastain played the warrior Sara in *The Huntsman: Winter's War* and the lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane in *Miss Sloane* (2016), a role that earned her a fourth Golden Globe nomination.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/) In 2017 she portrayed Antonina Żabińska in *The Zookeeper's Wife*, based on the true story of a [Warsaw Zoo](https://www.edgepedia.org/warsaw-zoo) couple who sheltered 300 Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, and Molly Bloom in Aaron Sorkin's *Molly's Game*, about the runner of a high-stakes underground poker ring; both brought Golden Globe nominations.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/i-love-this-crime-thriller-with-jessica-chastain-but-its-leaving-netflix-soon) She also played the painter Catherine Weldon seeking out Sitting Bull in *Woman Walks Ahead* (2017), then rejoined McAvoy for *Dark Phoenix* and played Beverly Marsh in the horror hit *It Chapter Two* (both 2019).[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits)
## The 2020s: awards and producing
Chastain's transformation into the televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in *The Eyes of Tammy Faye* (2021) won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 94th ceremony, along with a Critics Choice Award and a SAG Award.[6](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf) • [10](https://thecinemaholic.com/all-upcoming-jessica-chastain-movies-and-tv-shows/) The same year she starred in *The Forgiven*; 2022 brought *The 355*, in which she played Mace/Mason Browne, *Armageddon Time* as Maryanne Trump, and *The Good Nurse*, in which she played the real-life nurse Amy Loughren.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits)
On television she played Tammy Wynette opposite Michael Shannon as George Jones in Showtime's *George & Tammy*, winning the SAG Award for best female actor in a TV movie or limited series at the February 2023 ceremony, a year after her film win.[7](https://apnews.com/article/603efd8216cc507c05a52b30f507fc5f) • [13](https://paramountglobalcontent.com/title/george-tammy) Her later screen credits include *Memory* (2023) as Sylvia, *Mothers' Instinct* (2024) as Alice, and *Dreams* (2026) as Jennifer McCarthy.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits)
## Stage work
Theater has run alongside her film career from the start. She made her professional stage debut as Juliet in Shakespeare's *Romeo and Juliet* in San Francisco, and her stage credits include *The Cherry Orchard* with Michelle Williams (2004), *Othello* with Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Oscar Wilde's *Salome* with Al Pacino in 2006, a performance that drew substantial critical attention.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [11](https://www.newyorktheaterguide.com/stars-on-stage/jessica-chastain) • [12](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/pdf/0001/45/9f8a659ac94a0499de75b9a2e35c693ac26b7e9d.pdf) Her return to Broadway after more than a decade came in the revival of Henrik Ibsen's *A Doll's House*, which earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role in a Play.[6](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf)
## Recognition and festival presence
Chastain served as a member of the Feature Films jury at the 2017 Festival de Cannes.[8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/) Her Cannes filmography as a performer covers five titles: *The Tree of Life* (In Competition, 2011), *Lawless* (In Competition, 2012), *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted* (Out of Competition, 2012, voice), *Seduced and Abandoned* (Special Screenings, 2013), and *The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby* (Un Certain Regard, 2014).[8](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/) Across her career she has collected an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, SAG Awards in both film and television, a Drama Desk Award, and nominations including two additional Oscar nominations, for *The Help* and *Zero Dark Thirty*.[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain) • [5](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012) • [6](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf) • [7](https://apnews.com/article/603efd8216cc507c05a52b30f507fc5f)
## References
1. [Jessica Chastain: Biography, Actor, Academy Award, Movies, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/jessica-chastain)
2. [¿Cuántos Oscars tiene Jessica Chastain...?, AS/Tikitakas](https://as.com/us/tikitakas/cuantos-oscars-tiene-jessica-chastain-y-cuantas-veces-ha-sido-nominada-a-los-premios-oscar-n/)
3. [Jessica Chastain Filmography and Movies, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/jessica-chastain-114908/film-credits)
4. [Great Performance: Jessica Chastain (2012), TIME](https://time.com/3785928/great-performance-jessica-chastain/)
5. [The 84th Academy Awards, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012)
6. [Jessica Chastain press kit, Marrakech International Film Festival (2023)](https://marrakech-festival.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CP_ENG_-JESSICA-CHASTAIN_PPR-0910.pdf)
7. ['Everything Everywhere All at Once' dominates at SAG Awards, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/603efd8216cc507c05a52b30f507fc5f)
8. [Jessica CHASTAIN, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/jessica-chastain/)
9. [This gripping thriller with Jessica Chastain is leaving Netflix soon, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/i-love-this-crime-thriller-with-jessica-chastain-but-its-leaving-netflix-soon)
10. [Jessica Chastain: Every Upcoming Movie and TV Show in 2026 and 2027, The Cinemaholic](https://thecinemaholic.com/all-upcoming-jessica-chastain-movies-and-tv-shows/)
11. [Jessica Chastain – Stars on Stage, New York Theatre Guide](https://www.newyorktheaterguide.com/stars-on-stage/jessica-chastain)
12. [Production Notes, Festival de Cannes (PDF)](https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/pdf/0001/45/9f8a659ac94a0499de75b9a2e35c693ac26b7e9d.pdf)
13. [Paramount Global Content, George & Tammy](https://paramountglobalcontent.com/title/george-tammy)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actor filmographies and performer list articles › Surnames M to T*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license