«CI were many moments of my childhood in which my mother had difficulty finding something to make us eat. It looks like a world impossible to imagine now that I am sitting on the sofa of a hotel in Berlin to present a film, but it happened: it is part of my past and what I carry with me in my present »here Jessica Chastain tells in the middle of this interview.
We get there starting from Dreamsin which Jennifer, daughter of a rich Californian entrepreneur engaged in the management of a philanthropic foundation which, among the various projects, finances a dance academy in Mexico. This is how Fernando met (Isaac Hernández), a young dancer who, to continue what he was from the beginning was An irresistible love at first sight illegally crosses the border and reaches it in San Francisco. The woman, however, is afraid to be seen with him: there are differences in class and age … nobody would understand, certainly not his family.
Fernando, proud, prefers to return to Mexico rather than playing the role of “Toy Boy”. Maybe she loves him, maybe not: certainly he wants to control it. And so it goes to resume, only to endure the idea that a career can be built And a life of which she is not in the center. It is an unbalanced relationship Which concentrates, in what at first glance it might seem an intimate relationship, a metaphor for relationships between the United States and Mexico, now more current than ever.
The interview, however, had started with much lighter premises. The appointment was for the morning, but Chastain had lost the plane. «I happened to one of those taxi drivers in New York who don’t know the city, they don’t know what they are doing. We took almost two hours to get to the airport. I was sorry, I didn’t want to skip this appointment, but I also smiled as I saw the inevitable happen. It seemed the ending of a romantic comedy, when one of the two protagonists must reach the other before it starts, but the happy ending was missing. However, somehow, even if late, here I am ».
Jessica Chastain in Dreamsthe second time with Michel Franco
For the actress it is the second collaboration with the Mexican director Michel Franco. “As we swore MemoryMichel said to me: “I have an idea for another film, but darker.” And I immediately: “Perfect, I like to face the darkest aspects of human nature” ».
Are there other points of contact between the two films?
My wardrobe: in both cases it is still in my wardrobe! In memory we went to buy the clothes together, and then they kept them. For Dreamson the other hand, the costume designer has selected directly among the clothes I already had. We used many clothes that can also be seen in the photos of the red carpet of the last few years. It was a way to save (it is also the producer of Dreamseditor’s note) and to avoid waste.
Jessica Chastain in Dreams. (Press Office)
Do you think you have more things in common with the character of Fernando or with that of Jennifer?
With Fernando, but if I say it maybe they look crazy … The last ten years of my life have been so incredible that people don’t imagine how it could be before. Precisely for this reason I feel a lot of empathy for those who fight every day simply to survive, especially if the local language does not speak. I would never judge someone who needs help. If we talk about languages, I am a privileged one: with English I can go anywhere without too many problems, but I don’t have a great talent for foreign idioms.
When he received the Oscar in 2022 for Tammy Faye’s eyes he also dedicated the prize to his daughter Giulietta, saying “to my treasure” in Italian …
I tried and I am still trying to learn Italian, since it is part of my family (she is married since 2017 with Treviso Gian Luca Passi de Pre Posulo, ed.), But I still don’t feel safe enough to speak without difficulty. I also studied four years of French in high school, alas I don’t remember anything. In the United States public school system, unfortunately, you don’t learn much.
Jessica Chastain: “I still believe in the good of the United States and I want to be part of it”
By virtue of its link with Europe, have you ever thought of leaving the United States?
I love New York. I love her from the first time I went there, during a school trip when I was still a high school clerk in California. New York is my favorite city in the world. I love walking on the street and hearing so many different languages, many different accents. Among the many aspects that I like in the city, there is a fundamental one: he resets the differences of class at least twice a day, when everyone – I understand when I accompany my children to school – take the metro. I realize that living in the United States in this historical moment means having to accept many decisions and political statements that I do not share, especially as regards immigration. But I still believe in the good of the United States and I want to be part of it. Going to me would seem to me to surrender. And I’m not one who surrenders, so I won’t do it only because of a march apple.
One of the themes of Dreams It is the relationship between a much bigger woman than the partner.
This film, however, goes beyond the simple age difference: he faces the privilege, the economy, power and manipulation. Jennifer is treated by his father and brother almost like a pet and, in turn, deals with his lover in the same way, which comes from an even more disadvantaged context. In short, it is a much deeper story of the simple relationship between a woman and a younger man. I am pleased, however, that this theme is increasingly normalized. If you think about it, between me and Isaac Hernández there are only thirteen years of difference: if it had been the opposite, nobody would even mention the age gap.
Jessica Chastain in “Dreams” by Michel Franco, presented at the last Berlin Film Festival. Here it is with Isaac Hernández and with Rupert Friend (in the center). (Press Office)
His character has a strong sense of isolation and loneliness. Have you tried to understand its reasons?
I thought about it a lot. Here is a woman who seems to have everything, yet she chooses to love someone who lives in another country, far from her daily reality. Love is an active choice. But we must consider everything else, starting from the family. Jennifer lives in an environment in which decisions are made by men. We never see the mother, the sister -in -law appears barely and talks little … I was struck by a joke written by Michel: the father says “I want you to get married, put on the family and have children”, and she simply replies: “I can’t have children, you know”. And the conversation ends there. In that family, the value of a woman is linked to beauty, in the presence next to a man, to the role of perfect mother and wife. Jennifer is not part of this scheme. He feels alone in his own family and finds something different with Fernando: someone who really sees her, who gives her a sense of freedom that she had never tried before.
What do you think of philanthropy? It is a theme of the film and often Hollywood stars are called activism. How does this aspect manage?
I think if someone has money and wants to donate them, welcome. Don’t judge who is very rich and chooses to support a cause. Of course, sometimes people exploit the system to avoid taxes, and this is a problem. But beyond personal intentions, what really matters is that that money is used to help others.
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