Quotes from Jessica Chastain

Women can be powerful, graceful, and complex, with the ability to make any choice they desire.

I'm going to do anything I can to be there and support any organization that empowers and creates opportunities for women.

There's a lot of criticism on how an actress is aging. Why do we do that with women? I work with a lot of men who take terrible care of themselves - they drink too much, or they eat too much. We need to allow women to age.

I talked to congressmen who really hate having to go to the many fundraisers, but they see it as a necessary part of their job.

When something happens, I always check myself and know it's going to go away. So be prepared for it. This is a tough business for actors who are sensitive. If you try to hold on to things, you'll go crazy.

In the characters that I play, I'm so involved in the look; it's very, very important to me. Because how a person presents him or herself to the world, they're saying something about themselves. It's their first form of advertisement.

Making films can be very lonely, and that's the part I don't like. I don't want to feel like I'm pressing 'pause' on my personal life to make a movie. I want to feel like I'm still creating relationships and things are moving forward.

Funny how defined we are by how we present ourselves to the world.

One of my favorite parts of being an actress is being a detective.

If you want me in your film, do a favored-nation clause. Don't determine my worth based on what's left over.

Green tea throughout the day is the healthiest thing I've discovered for me.

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

Before, it was just about making the films - and now it's releasing them. Which is a steep learning curve.

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.

Whatever anyone says, I think the opposite will happen.

I started a production company - all female led, actually - called Freckle Films.

I think when you congratulate yourselves for diversity, that means nothing's really changed.

I have a feeling that very soon I'm going to fail very, very big. I'm going to try something and everybody's going to be like, 'What was she thinking?'

I try not to fake anything.

I have problems because I'm very expressive, and usually red lipstick gets on my teeth and face.

I've spent my life being embarrassed.

I was a dramatic kid. I remember, I was very young, and once I knew what I wanted to do I, like, created a theater company, and I would direct, and we would sell lemonade to buy props.

We have grown up watching women be used as props on a man's journey. It's not our fault that that's what we saw as children. But we need to acknowledge that and do better.

My grandmother came with me when I moved out to New York. She stayed with me for a week. I was, you know, living in the dorm. The first year, I had a lot of anxiety, and, I remember, my teachers kept saying I had so much jaw tension.