Quotes from Jessica Chastain

I'm used to working really hard to get a role. I was always auditioning and talking my way into roles.

I can't tell you how many incredible directors I long to work with, but then I look at their IMDb page, and they haven't made a single movie about a woman.

If someone doesn't want to hire me because they think I'm too vocal, fine. I will do a play. I will always find a job. Let them try to get me out of this industry. I am not going to be silenced!

I'm so inspired by the women who are far braver than I am, who have come forward with their stories and risked everything to help others. What is important is that the voices of these women do not disappear. We must amplify them.

I cut school to read Shakespeare and to learn about that because, for the first time, I felt like I really discovered a passion - the passion of my life.

If you're one of the only women on a set - if it's you and a bunch of men - you feel like your value doesn't come from your thoughts and your talent and what you say: your value comes from how you look and how you're perceived by the men around you.

I'm inspired by people who are so sensitive and vulnerable that they try to cover it up.

There have been situations where I have lost movies because I've said, 'This is not a fair deal,' and I've walked away.

Okay, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm a very superstitious person. I'm walking onto the plane as we speak. I'm putting my hands on the outside of the plane and my feet are on the lip of the plane. I have to do it every time before I fly.

I don't want to be in my car all day. I love getting up in the morning in Venice and walking my dogs down to the cafe to get my tea, and then perhaps going to a bookstore and sitting and reading, then walking to the beach.

Broadway has always been a dream of mine.

Gian Luca and I have been together for such a long time, we're in it for the long haul.

I'm a shadow whisperer: I hide in the shadows. And I tend to avoid places where I might get photographed and end up with my picture in the press.

For the most part, I was surprised by the representation of female characters onscreen. I do hope that when we include more female storytellers, we will have more of the women that I recognize in my day to day life.

I always say I am a realist, and my mom says, "No, you just have anxiety."

I think both nature and grace live within everyone, and I always strive to be in a world of grace and compassion.

I take great responsibility in any character that I play.

My whole life, I wanted to be an actor. Perhaps the seed was planted when I saw Sigourney Weaver in 'Alien', wiping the floor with the men on the ship.

I find it very interesting: when 90 percent of the critics that review films are men, how is that helpful when trying to create stories from a feminine point of view?

I'm the first person in my family to go to college.

The reason we like acting is connecting to other people.

We need to understand that femininity is not weakness. And our society, for some reason, equates the two.

I'm very sensitive in real life. I cannot not cry if someone around me is crying. I will start to cry if someone is crying, even if it's not appropriate. I have that thing in me, a weakness or sensitivity.

I sometimes go to a movie and eat my popcorn and turn my brain off. I love those movies. But the movies I like to be in, for the most part, are the ones that challenge you.