Quotes from Jessica Chastain

I went to public school, and I didn't do well in school. And it wasn't until, actually, I got into school at Juilliard - it was the first time in my life that I thought, 'Oh, maybe I'm not stupid,' because I was so inspired and passionate about what I was learning, and it was the first time in my life I had felt that.

If I get a role, it's because I fought for it.

I'm inspired by antiques. I look at things that have a wink to the past but are also reinterpreted in some way and made to feel modern... and maybe that's what I am.

I'm not taking jobs anymore where I'm getting paid a quarter of what the male co-star is being paid. I'm not allowing that in my life.

In our society, women are valued for their sexual attraction. I'd like to get away from the sex symbol idea of what beauty is. Actually, that's probably the farthest thing from beauty, because it's makeup and hair, it's pouty lips - it's not real.

My grandmother was my inspiration. She was the person who took me to the theater and encouraged me to act, and she's the one who always believed in me.

The great thing about modern feminism is that women can define what it means to them: it can mean being ambitious, it can mean being emotional, it can mean being sensitive and compassionate and also a leader. It can mean all those things.

What can I do to create a healthy work environment? Because we have all been groomed to the normalization of violence and the normalization of abuse. And we refuse to live in that society.

Every time you fail, you learn more.

I think, in the past, being brave - being powerful, being strong - were qualities that people associated with being masculine. And I think... no, I don't think - I know that now we're realizing they can be feminine, too.

I do know that people treat me different with blonde hair than they do with red hair.

What's wrong with trying hard and showing up and being good at your job? We really need to look at ourselves and say we need to reevaluate this. We need to reevaluate that women who ask for a pay raise or ask for a promotion - it's actually an okay thing. It's okay to be ambitious; it's okay to be over-prepared.

I don't know if there will ever be a day that I'm not wearing heels. I'm a very big personality, and I don't like to look up at other people.

When you take away healthcare from women, you're keeping women out of the workforce because you're eliminating their choice of when to start a family.

I'm working hard to break free of stereotypes that the film industry has created and nurtured around women.

For the longest time, people would say to me that I didn't feel very modern, that I seemed from another time.

I don't like the idea that fame could mean that people can no longer relate to me.

I've never been in New York for the whole time of Fashion Week.

It takes me a long time to make a big purchase...

I think that with any emotion - fear, love, nervousness - if the actor's feeling it, then the audience feels it.

Put others before yourself, unselfish love, do unto others as you would have done to you.

I'm either thought of as ethereal or fiery. And maybe that's the interesting thing about red hair: there's that fiery Renaissance connotation and the ethereal.

I am not one to go for traditional female roles, because I don't think traditionally female characters are very interesting, and I don't think they represent real life.

I understood the importance of doing an Aaron Sorkin film. He's a political filmmaker.