Tragic Details About Jessica Chastain

The following article contains mentions of suicide and mental health issues.

For decades, Jessica Chastain has proved she isn't like other actors. From her first professional role in an episode of "ER" back in 2004 to her groundbreaking work in "Zero Dark Thirty" and her Oscar-winning performance in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," she's had a remarkable career. However, Chastain has had to fight tooth and nail to end up where she is today, and she's endured a number of tragic circumstances in her life.

Her poverty-stricken upbringing, heartbreaking familial losses, and difficulty in her professional life have not only given the actor perspective, but her ability to overcome so much over the years also demonstrates her character. Where some might let tragedy steer their lives, Chastain has made it clear that she is purely in control of her own destiny. "I'm quite rebellious," she said at the Marrakech Film Festival (via Variety) in November 2023. "[Whenever] the industry and the world starts seeing me as one kind of actress, I will push against it. [I need] to show that no one's in charge of me except for me."

The stunning transformation of Chastain, be it her physical, professional, or personal evolution, was made possible by the trials and tribulations she's had to endure. Here are the tragic details about the "Interstellar" star and how they've impacted her life today.

Shockingly, Jessica Chastain's life is your classic rags-to-riches story. While the "Molly's Game" star is undoubtedly worth a fortune today, she came from humble beginnings. Chastain was raised by a single mother who had her when she was just a teenager, alongside her four siblings in Sacramento, California. "I grew up with a lot of resentment, because we didn't have things, like even food," the actor told The Times in January 2022. Her upbringing, Chastain added, goes against what a lot of people would think because she's now made it as a major movie star. "I don't talk about it much ... When people see me, I think they expect a different background than I have," she said.

As difficult as growing up in poverty was for Chastain at the time, it also taught her a lot about female empowerment. "I think, without being fully aware of it, [feminism has] always been present in my life," she told Elle Spain in March 2025. "And maybe it's because of my childhood: being raised by single mothers, living in extreme situations where we often didn't even have enough to eat or faced eviction." From a young age, Chastain witnessed the inequality women faced, particularly her mother and grandmother, whether it was in their education or their ability to earn as much as men. "I was taught that this wasn't fair, and that idea sank in so deeply that it became part of who I am," Chastain remarked.

With her gorgeous red hair, glowing smile, and charismatic energy, it's hard to believe that Jessica Chastain wasn't the most popular girl when she was at school. In fact, she felt like something of a misfit as a kid. "[I went] through the hallways of school feeling lonely and not like I fit in," Chastain told Glamour in October 2014. Eventually, the actor made like-minded friends through her drama class. "Like that show 'Glee,'" she quipped. However, as she pointed out, it was primarily the lack of attention Chastain received at home that kept her from connecting with her peers. These troubles ultimately manifested as attention-seeking behavior at school.

"I was an obnoxious kid because I wasn't getting appropriate attention," Chastain said in December 2022 during an interview with The Guardian. "I would do things like eat banana peels in the lunch rooms so kids would notice me." Sadly, the lack of parental involvement from the "Crimson Peak" star's busy mother and stepfather translated into academic struggles as well. "I wasn't good with homework because I'd watch TV — soap operas — all day when I got home," she remarked.

Jessica Chastain's academic struggles sadly persisted through high school. "Nobody knows this about me," she told Entertainment Weekly in January 2015. "I dropped out of high school. I was not a hard worker. I was a terrible student." Chastain did go on to get her diploma as an adult, but she never listened to her valedictorian's speech nor walked across the graduation stage with her fellow classmates. "It wasn't that I just dropped out and never went back — at the end of the year I had too many absences to graduate," she explained. But what was Chastain doing when she was playing hooky? "I would cut school and sit in my car, reading Shakespeare."

While many parents would probably be concerned about their child missing graduation, the "It: Chapter Two" star revealed that her mom and stepdad actually couldn't have cared less. "My sister was having a lot of difficulties, and everyone was very stressed," Chastain said. "So the focus was on that. When I didn't graduate, no one even noticed." Although she can laugh about it now, the lack of acknowledgment was undoubtedly difficult for the then-teenage Chastain as all eyes were on her sister. She went on to say, "It wasn't even a conversation of, 'Uh, are we going to your graduation?' Nothing."

Although high school was difficult for Jessica Chastain, she got back on track and enrolled at Sacramento City College. She went on to make her professional debut in a play of "Romeo and Juliet" in San Francisco before going to The Juilliard School in New York — where the likes of Robin Williams, Viola Davis, Oscar Isaac, and other notable alumni learned their craft. It was an incredible moment for Chastain, and she was the first person in her family to attend college, but with her new placement at the school came insurmountable anxiety.

She got into Juilliard on a scholarship funded by Williams, but there were plenty of fees, so her family pitched in. "I was terrified by this idea that my whole family was paying for it and I could get cut from the program because they had a probation system," Chastain told The Guardian in April 2016. "So, the first year, I was a wreck of anxiety."

Even performing became difficult for her because of the nerves. "My jaw would just clench," she added, "because I'd be so anxious. And then the more anxious you get about not relaxing — it just spirals." Thankfully, Chastain learned to cope with her anxiety a little better and graduated from the performing arts school in 2003. Unfortunately, Chastain's breakout year in 2011 led to the return of the actor's anxiety because her life completely changed after she starred in "The Help."

While 2003 had its celebratory moments for Jessica Chastain, it also was a time of devastating loss. In May 2003, her younger sister Juliet tragically took her own life at just 24 years old. Chastain's late sister was also a talented performer, and her obituary noted she was a drummer, songwriter, and poet. "She had a lot of attempted suicides, but you never really think this is going to happen, even though, in your mind, you know it can happen," the "A Most Violent Year" star told Modern Luxury Manhattan (via Closer Weekly) in 2016. "And when you get the call, it's ... shocking."

Chastain's world was turned upside down when she learned of Juliet's death. "It completely changed the person I am," she previously told InStyle (via Page Six). The loss also gave the actor a sense of perspective, as she said, "A movie, Oscars, a dress, if someone thinks I'm stupid. ... I realized nothing is that important." The Hollywood star has since gone on to become an outspoken advocate for suicide prevention and joined the To Write Love on Her Arms campaign.

Chastain even took the opportunity to speak out about suicide prevention when she won her Oscar in 2022. As she said during her acceptance speech, "[F]or any of you out there who do in fact feel hopeless or alone, I just want you to know that you are unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you."

A year after her big break in Hollywood, Jessica Chastain embarked on what was, at the time, her most difficult project. "Zero Dark Thirty" chronicled the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and his execution by Navy SEAL Team Six. Chastain portrayed a CIA operative in the film, and although it certainly wasn't the most physically demanding character the actor has portrayed, the role had a detrimental effect on her. "I didn't know the personal toll it was going to take on me until I went there," she told Vulture in December 2012.

After a 25-hour flight to India, Chastain touched the ground and immediately went to work. "I landed, went straight to set, didn't even go to hair and makeup, put on a robe, and they started filming me in the market," she said. Chastain struggled with the inequality where they were shooting. She had to keep her hair covered even when they weren't filming, and when she would go out to eat, the men at the table were expected to order for her. However, this wasn't the worst part. Those who have seen "Zero Dark Thirty" will likely understand why Chastain added, "[A]ll the torture scenes — not fun to shoot."

Compared to other celebrities, there's very little the public knows about the "Miss Sloane" star's personal life. Even Jessica Chastain's husband and their relationship is shrouded in secrecy. The movie star has managed to keep the details about her family relatively private, giving only brief sound bites. However, while it seems Chastain attempted to keep her biological father's identity hidden, the press found out about him anyway.

The actor's mom Jeri and father Michael Monasterio were high school sweethearts, but after having two children, they split up for reasons unknown. Sometime later, Jeri remarried a firefighter named Michael Hastey. He became Chastain's stepfather, but she would refer to him in the press as her dad. During a conversation with Vogue in November 2013, she said that Hastey is "one of the greatest people" in her life and when he became a father figure to her, it was the "first time [she] had felt security."

Chastain's relationship with her biological father remained fraught until the very end when Monasterio died at the age of 55 from complications relating to bronchitis. The reports that surfaced were "very difficult" for the actor, who told Vogue that there was "no proof of anything" relating her to Monasterio. To this day, it seems Chastain has still refused to publicly acknowledge her relationship with her estranged father — and after more than a decade, perhaps she never will.

From Colin Farrell's role in "The Penguin" to Karen Gillan as Nebula in "Guardians of the Galaxy," there have been countless performances actors have managed to pull off from underneath a thick layer of makeup. Jessica Chastain experienced this firsthand when she was cast as the lead in 2021's "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," in which she portrayed a real-life televangelist. It wasn't until her first makeup test that she realized the difficult task she had undertaken.

"I was freaked out. I was like, 'I don't know how to act like this,'" Chastain told the Los Angeles Times in August 2021. "You have to reach through the makeup — you can't let the makeup be the performance." Aside from her concerns about emoting through the prosthetics, transforming into Tammy Faye took Chastain hours — up to seven and a half, to be precise, plus two more hours to remove it all. "I started to have hot flashes because it's so heavy and hot. ... It was concerning to me," she said.

And rightly so. Chastain also revealed that the weight of the makeup left its mark on the star's face. "I think for sure I've done some permanent damage to my skin," she remarked. "[W]hen you're wearing it all day every day — the weight of it on your body, it stretches your skin out." On the bright side, Chastain won her first-ever Oscar for her remarkable performance in the film.

Time and again, Jessica Chastain has proved that she's not afraid to give a role her all. When she starred in the spy thriller "The 355" alongside several other badass women like Bingbing Fan, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong'o, she did many of her own stunts. However, Chastain unfortunately sustained a pretty gnarly injury on set as a result.

While appearing on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" in January 2022, the actor revealed that she went to the hospital because of a stunt gone wrong. "I was doing a fight scene and it was on a marble floor," Chastain said. "I had to fall and hit my head [in the scene]. I misjudged the distance [and] I heard a crack." The star explained that the entire cast and crew looked on as her stunt double came over to her and said, "I'm sorry but I have to put it back in." At this point Chastain was shaken, thinking she had cracked her head open, but it was just a bruise her stunt double was pushing back into the actor's head. Fortunately, she wasn't too injured, adding, "I did a couple more takes because, you know, I don't give up easy, and then I went to the hospital."

While Jessica Chastain's life has been filled with several unfortunate ordeals, Anne Hathaway has also endured many tragic circumstances — so it seemed like kismet when they experienced one together. The two Hollywood stars worked together on 2024's period drama "Mother's Instinct," about two 1960s housewives. And if you've never heard of it, you're not alone. It had an extremely limited release. Only six theaters in the United States showed it. All signs pointed to Neon, the indie film distributor, attempting to bury the movie.

Little is known about why "Mother's Instinct" wasn't widely marketed, although it did receive a less than ideal Rotten Tomatoes score of just 52%, so the studio may have cut its losses when it wasn't received well. While Chastain and Hathaway likely won't receive the credit they deserve for all the hard work they put into filming the project in just 24 days, they at least got to spend that time together.

The pair had previously worked together on Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar." In speaking with Glamour U.K. in March 2024, Chastain explained how happy she was to collaborate again with her friend. "[W]e had to really throw ourselves in as deeply as we could," she said. "Someone like Annie, who is a phenomenal actress and producer, not only is she giving us a beautiful performance, but she's able to keep the wheels on the cart and see the finish line."

As charismatic and likable as the "Armageddon Time" star is, Jessica Chastain had a painfully out of touch moment. While the actor may have meant well, she wasn't spared the harsh criticism many celebrities get on the internet. Back in October 2024, Chastain shared a post on X (via Page Six), writing, "Thank you @JetBlue for your $15.00 credit. My flight was $1,500 and the credit is 1/100 of the money I paid you."

She went on to elaborate that the credit the airline offered her was due to the fact her in-flight entertainment screen hadn't worked throughout her six-hour flight. Almost everyone has encountered an unpleasant travel experience, but given her obvious privilege, the post had commenters labeling Chastain "spoiled." One person wrote, "Jessica Chastain is whining about paying $1,500 for a Jet Blue flight and not having a working TV. The way you can be a millionaire but still be a broke b**** at heart." Another commented that the actor's complaint was "embarrassing," and that she needs to "read the room."

However, not everyone was against Chastain. Another X user wrote (via OK!), "I know everyone's dunking on Jessica Chastain, but lowkey, I think it's good that a celebrity is complaining publicly. Airlines have absolutely no accountability when it comes to customer service."

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