Jessica Chastain only wants to make animal movies from now on.
The 40-year-old actress had such a great time working with elephants, tigers, monkeys and lion cubs on ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ – which is based on the true story of Jan Zabinski, the director of Warsaw Zoo, and his wife Antonina, who helped save the lives of hundreds of Jews during World War II – that she doesn’t understand why people are warned about filming with kids and creatures.
She said: "They say never work with children or animals but after this that’s all I want to work with.
"The great thing about working with animals is that they force you to show up without expectation. You have to show up, see what’s going on and go with it."
Jessica recently made a trip to Warsaw Zoo, where she was "honored" to meet with Jan and Antonina’s daughter Teresa, though she did find the experience a little "weird".
She told HELLO! magazine: "Having her there made me nervous because you always want to be respectful and do the person justice when you are playing a real-life character.
"It was also kind of weird standing there dressed as her mother – I was always thinking how she was feeling.
"We cried a lot together remembering Antonina, but Teresa assured me she was happy and I was so honoured to share this experience with her."
The ‘Tree of Life’ actress feels very "lucky" because she has been far more successful in her career than she ever dreamed of.
She said: "My career is better than I could ever have imagined.
"When I was in high school, my dream was to work at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and be in the company.
"I still have a keychain my boyfriend bought me back then which says, ‘Looking forward to working with you here.
"So to look at my life and career now is wonderful and so much bigger than what my dreams were.
"I never expected any of this so I truly appreciate it. I feel very lucky."
Jessica Chastain loves working with animals
