Jessica Chastain Reflects on How Acting Changed Her Life, as “First in My Family to Not Get Pregnant as a Teenager” (2025)

Jessica Chastain was honored with the American Cinematheque Award on Friday night for her impressive body of work and used her moment to reflect on the early days of her journey to becoming an Oscar-winning actress.

Taking the stage at The Beverly Hilton hotel, the star noted how her great-grandmother, grandmother, aunt and mother all became mothers before they were 17, forced to drop out of school and give up their career aspirations to support their families. Chastain said her mother was just 22 and caring for three young children on her own, as the family faced evictions and she went to school with basic needs unmet.

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“We existed on the margins of society, but theater became my lifeline. It was a way to feel seen, to use my voice and to break free from the expectations that had bound my family for generations. I became determined to escape the cycle,” Chastain continued. “I was the first in my family to not get pregnant as a teenager, the first to finish high school, and the first to attend college. And attending TheJuilliard Schooldidn’t just change my life, it showed my family that a different path was possible.”

The actress explained that through her roles, “I’ve worked to dismantle the restrictive roles that society imposes on women. Too often, women are valued only for their sexual desirability or their function as mothers, reducing them to bodies in service of everyone but themselves.” She had early success on that mission when in 2013 she had two top films at the box office with Mama and Zero Dark Thirty, which was “proof that audiences were hungry for stories of powerful, multi-faceted women.”

“As I stand here tonight, I am mindful of the state of the world, our country, our politics and the misogyny that persists. So many women are still taught to find their worth in roles defined by men,” Chastain told the crowd. “I am so proud to be part of an industry that is really evolving. Today, films show girls that they don’t need a prince to save them, they can save the day themselves,” emphasizing the need to show little girls and boys that “a woman’s true value isn’t in her beauty or her role as someone’s partner, but in her intellect and her resilience and her strength.”

She closed out by thanking her family and friends, choking up when shouting out her mother and grandmother, who were both in attendance at the event. She also added, “To everyone in this room, I urge you to consider the authority of the stories that we choose to tell. Filmmaking is a political act. We’re shaping not only our world but also the world for future generations.”

Honoree Jessica Chastain has arrived to the 38th Annual #AmericanCinemathequeAwards pic.twitter.com/CsdzYBELSM

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 7, 2024

Leading up to Chastain’s time to speak, the event was packed with A-list well-wishers celebrating both her onscreen work and offscreen character. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Sorkin, Octavia Spencer, Guillermo del Toro, Sebastian Stan, Casey Affleck, Michael Showalter and Niki Caro appeared in person, while Al Pacino, Jeremy Strong, Oscar Isaac, Peter Dinklage, Matthew McConaughey and Ralph Fiennes sent in video messages of support.

Del Toro recalled how he missed the premiere of their 2015 project Crimson Peak because of a pulmonary crisis — joking, “Don’t worry, I’m 130 pounds lighter so I’ll survive the night or at least the introduction.” She visited him in the hospital dressed as her character, Lucille, from the movie “with a cup of poison tea, and she sat by my side and sang me the song that the character sings. And I laughed and I felt in the first time in a very scary period of 48 hours, that things were going to be OK.”

Spencer, who worked with Chastain on The Help, highlighted her fight for pay equity in the industry and Isaac — who attended Juilliard at the same time — ran through the halls of the school as he declared, “For 23 years you’ve been an inspiration to me, as an artist, as an actor, as a friend, as a redhead. I love you, my sister from another mister.”

Oscar Isaac sends a video message as Jessica Chastain is honored at the American Cinematheque Awards pic.twitter.com/UtYDUzdNW9

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 7, 2024

The night also honored Oppenheimer producer Charles Roven, with an introduction courtesy of Robert Downey Jr. In his speech, Roven emphasized that the best way to celebrate the American Cinematheque’s work “is to ensure that our governor and our legislators significantly expand the production tax credits to keep Hollywood in Hollywood. Let’s bring more production back home, so we can keep our hardworking team and give them more time to sleep in their own beds.”

TheAmericanCinemathequeAwards serves as an annual fundraiser to support the American Cinematheque’s year-round programming at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Feliz, and Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Jessica Chastain Reflects on How Acting Changed Her Life, as “First in My Family to Not Get Pregnant as a Teenager” (3)

Jessica Chastain Reflects on How Acting Changed Her Life, as “First in My Family to Not Get Pregnant as a Teenager” (2025)
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