Jessica Chastain is "changing" Hollywood’s perception of women.
The ‘Interstellar’ star is keen to break the "long fairytale that women don’t get along" and uses the example of when she was pitted against Jennifer Lawrence because they were both up for the same Oscar.
She said: "I remember reading this article that talked about the ‘fight’ between me and Jennifer Lawrence, how we were rivals because we were up for the same Oscar [for ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, respectively]. They never say that when men are nominated in a category.
"So I went on my Facebook and said it wasn’t true, because I thought, I’m not standing for this any more; because that being out there tells women that other women are not supportive.
"In fact, if you see a movie like ‘Brooklyn’, with Saoirse Ronan, and what a great job she did – the more incredible performances there are out there, the more parts for women there are going to be, because audiences are going to want to see it. So why would it benefit anyone to deny accolades for others? It’s this long fairytale that women don’t get along. But we’re changing that."
And the 39-year-old actress is feeling more "positive" now about the future despite her "disappointment" that no movies with female leads were nominated for Best Picture at last year’s Academy Awards.
She added to The Guardian newspaper: "I feel really positive about where we are right now. Last year at the Oscars, I was so disappointed – all the best picture nominees, not one of them had a female protagonist. I was so tired. And the women nominated for best actress were really in a supporting role, because there weren’t enough movies with best actress roles made that year to nominate."
Jessica Chastain promoting Hollywood equality
