Jessica Chastain: Bullies are actually weak; they dont go after strong people
When Jessica Chastain was first becoming famous, I remember reading some details, here and there, about her childhood and how she really did grow up on the wrong side of the tracks. Jessica plays that stuff close to the vest, though, because I think she genuinely doesn’t want people to know too much about her private life. She doesn’t even want us to know her real age, for the love of God! Anyway, Jessica covers the latest issue of WSJ. Magazine and I was actually a little bit startled to read her comments about marriage, her childhood, and how she doesn’t know who her father is?
Meeting Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, her husband: “I never wanted to get married…When I first met my husband, he knew that marriage wasn’t something I was interested in. And then as we got to know each other, the idea of marriage shifted for me. There are some things worth celebrating — and he’s worth celebrating. I actually love being married. I never thought I would, but this is a spectacular human being, and I am celebrating that I get to share my life with him.”
Harvey Weinstein once tried to force her to wear Marchesa. Weinstein wanted her to wear Marchesa to the 2013 premiere of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, but she refused and wore Versace. Later, at the the premiere, she claims Weinstein mocked her choice. “He actually told the audience, ‘If I had to get in a boxing ring with Muhammad Ali or Jessica Chastain, I would choose Muhammad Ali.”
Her childhood: “My mom was a single mom; I don’t know who my biological father is, and I grew up in a household that was really financially unstable,” the Oscar nominee shares.
Her mom’s boyfriend slapped her once: “There was a turning point in my life where we were living with someone I didn’t like very much, a boyfriend of my mom’s. And he did something — my room was messy or whatever and he had taken my clothes, and I was telling him to give me back my stuff — and he slapped me. And I just kicked him in the genitals, and he fell to the ground immediately. It was me, my sister and my brother — and I remember looking at my sister’s face, and we were both like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I just do?’ And then I ran out of the house. But I always look back on that moment as knowing that, okay, if anything happens to me, I’m capable of fighting back. He never messed with me again. If you allow a bully to intimidate or victimize you, they’ll continue to do it. Bullies are actually weak; they don’t go after strong people.”
“Bullies are actually weak; they don’t go after strong people.” I don’t know if I agree with that? I mean, I agree that bullies are weak. But many bullies go after strong people all the time. That just came across as… an odd, somewhat victim-blaming statement, I guess. Like, the message is that you’re only being bullied because you’re not strong enough, which is bullsh-t.
As for her childhood… I didn’t know that she has no idea who her biological father is! Her mom sounds kind of messy. It’s no wonder then that Jessica was always sort of meh on marriage. So am I! And like Jess, if I met a hot, rich, Italian nobleman, I would probably change my tune in a hurry.
Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of WSJ. Magazine.
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