Jessica Chastain highlighted the importance of female voices while being honored at the 38th Annual American Cinematheque Awards on Friday evening at the Beverly Hilton.
In her acceptance speech, Chastain detailed the struggles of her childhood. She was the first woman in her family without a teenage pregnancy as well as the first to graduate high school and attend college. Chastain studied at Julliard thanks to a scholarship funded by Robin Williams, who received the American Cinematheque Award in 1988.
“We existed on the margins of society, but theater became my lifeline,” Chastain said. “It was a way to feel seen, to use my voice and to break free from the expectations that have bound my family for generations. I became determined to escape the cycle.”
Chastain said when she entered the industry, most films centered around male-dominated perspectives and regulated female actors to reductive archetypes. The “Molly’s Game” star wanted to change this, she explained, and cited January 2013 as a major milestone in her career.
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During that time, she starred in “Mama” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” which landed at the top of the box office two months in a row. Her roles in both films, an anti-mother turned protector and a CIA agent leading the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, defied expectations, she said.
“A woman’s true value isn’t in her beauty or her role as someone’s partner, but in her intellect, her resilience and her strength,” Chastain said. “Stories matter because they shape cultures. Stories inspire change and stories empower future generations.”
Before the ceremony, she reflected on the kind of characters she’s drawn to and the emotional subtext that motivates her portrayals.
“I love playing characters that defy expectations of what a woman is supposed to be,” Chastain told Variety. “I love to break the boundaries of what society anticipates or demands a woman to be or say.”
Chastain was presented the American Cinematheque Award by Bryan Cranston, Octavia Spencer, Aaron Sorkin, Sebastian Stan, Guillermo del Toro and Casey Affleck.
Cranston will star alongside Chastain, Brendan Fraser and Al Pacino in the 2025 thriller “Assassination.” The Academy Award Nominee, who will play Chastain’s husband in the film, praised her willingness to pursue roles that challenge the boundaries of her past work.
“You look at the body of work of an actor and if it varies, if it’s expansive, if it’s vulnerable, if they go into a place where they’re not accustomed to, that’s the kind of actor I look for,” Cranston told Variety. “That’s what [Chastain] does all the time.”
Sorkin, who worked with Chastain on “Molly’s Game,” said casting her in the lead role was the best decision he could have made. He added that following the film’s production, a director reached out to inquire about his experience working with the actor.
Sorkin encouraged the director to hire Chastain, praising her performance, talent and prowess in the industry.
“She can access a reservoir of nuance, and she’s going to score for you every time she’s on screen,” Sorkin said. “Her Juilliard training has given her a facility with language, and she has two qualities that are in short supply. She’s smart and she’s funny.”
Spencer credited Chastain for being an advocate for equitable compensation across the industry. She referenced their Academy Award-winning film “The Help,” during which Chastain pushed for Spencer to be paid fairly.
“I celebrate [Chastain’s] continuing efforts to make a more level playing field within our industry for all,” Spencer said. “Thank you, Jessica, for your beautiful, caring and generous heart and for being a total genius on screen who is brave, brilliant and a badass at revealing the highs and lows and truth of life.”
Del Toro directed Chastain in the 2015 film “Crimson Peak.” He recalled being unable to attend the movie’s premiere due to a medical crisis and being visited in the ICU by Chastain.
“She sat by my side and sang me the song of the characters, and I laughed. I felt for the first time, in a very scary period of 48 hours, that things were gonna be okay,” Del Toro said. “Jessica is one of these rare beings. She’s here to make everything better for us, and she does that every day. I think when somebody loves you like that, you’ll leave anything. I think that you can feel it. I can feel it.”
Robert Downey Jr. later presented the Power of Cinema Award to “Oppenheimer” producer Charles Roven. He recalled working with Roven on the Christopher Nolan film and shared his admiration for the Academy Award winner’s production process.
“For all his success, it’s clear that [Roven] still understands that we work in a service industry and what is special about us is the unique service we provide,” Downey Jr. said. “The power of cinema is best served by people who behave in a principled manner.”
In his acceptance speech, Roven explained that he and Downey Jr. have known each other for three decades but never collaborated on a project until “Oppenheimer.”
“One of the main jobs of a producer is worrying. I worry about budgets and marketing and whether we can fully capture the filmmaker’s vision. But one thing I never worried about is the movie business,” Roven said. “Because audiences will always come back to the theater. People want to be together. We want to see films on the biggest screen possible. We want to experience that magic.”