Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with Jessica Chastain for Dreams.

In this interview, Chastain discusses power, privilege, and intimacy for her latest role in Michel Franco’s new erotic thriller.

She also shares her favorite films from filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and Stanley Kubrick, addresses the postponement of her miniseries The Savant, and more.

Academy Award-winner Jessica Chastain calls her lead role in writer-director Michel Franco’s erotic thriller, Dreams, a challenge she was excited to run to. Having previously worked with the filmmaker on the 2023 drama Memory, she knew Franco’s style behind the camera presented a unique challenge as an actor, but it’s specifically the role of Jennifer McCarthy that she tells Collider’s Steve Weintraub was so “difficult,” considering the “intimacy and vulnerability” it called for. In the film, Jennifer (Chastain) is a wealthy, powerful socialite who initiates a clandestine relationship with a promising up-and-coming ballet dancer, Fernando Rodríguez, played by Isaac Hernández (The King of All the World) in his sophomore feature. When Fernando secretly crosses the US-Mexico border, Jennifer takes it upon herself to protect their future together, no matter the desperate lengths she determines she must go, and no matter how it impacts others. The movie also stars Rupert Friend (The Phoenician Scheme) and Marshall Bell (Starship Troopers). In this interview, Chastain, who also serves as a producer on the movie, discusses the film’s timely narrative in highlighting the realities of immigration and power dynamics, and how Dreams continues those conversations. She also talks about the difficulties of taking on a project with intimate scenes, how she and Franco collaborated on specific scenes to optimize safety and security, as well as what future projects she currently has in the works. For all of this, plus her favorite films from Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick, the status of her postponed miniseries, The Savant, and more. Check out the full conversation in the video above, or the transcript below.
Jessica Chastain Calls This Underrated Scorsese Drama His Best Work

She shares her “controversial” favorite films, discusses her postponed Apple TV series, The Savant, and more.

Martin Scorsese behind the camera in Mr. Scorsese.Image via Apple TV

COLLIDER: The restraining order has been lifted. I get to talk to you again. JESSICA CHASTAIN: [Laughs] I remember the first time we met at Sundance many years ago, before all the films came out. It’s always been a pleasure to talk to you. This marks 15 years for you and me. CHASTAIN: Yeah, this is a long relationship. Longer than most marriages. [Laughs] That’s actually true. I’ve got a ton of questions for you. Let’s get started. Will I ever see The Savant on Apple TV? CHASTAIN: Oh my god, please keep asking that question. I hope so. I think it’s an amazing series. Some reviews came out that really praised the series. I think Variety had a review that came out before. I mean, it was already sent to the paper or whatever. I think it’s great. I love the work of all my co-stars. And I think it’s important, especially because, eight days after the series was pulled off the air, the current administration canceled the program that the series is about. It’s probably easier to cancel something when no one knows it exists. But these incredible people, like the character I play in that, should be celebrated for the sacrifices that they’ve made and the wonderful things that they’ve done to protect us all. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been asking these next few questions to literally everyone I’ve been interviewing the last two months. Do you have a favorite Christopher Nolan movie? And it doesn’t have to be the one that you’re in. CHASTAIN: It’s Interstellar. I’m sorry, it’s Interstellar. It would be my favorite movie even if I wasn’t in it because it’s a love letter to his daughter, and I think that’s the most emotional, beautiful, vulnerable Christopher Nolan we’ve ever seen. On the call sheet every day, the production company called it Flora’s Letter, and then when we were doing press, I met his daughter, Flora, and it all made sense. So, for me, it’s Interstellar by far. I get a lot of people who say Interstellar. I’ve asked this to a lot of people. Do you have a favorite Spielberg? CHASTAIN: E.T. Come on. E.T.! I’ve heard them all. CHASTAIN: The best. I watched it recently. It’s so beautiful, that movie. It’s so incredible. It gets harder. The next one is, do you have a favorite Kubrick? CHASTAIN: I’m going to be controversial here. Eyes Wide Shut. I’ve heard that answer from a lot of people. CHASTAIN: Really? Okay. I’ve heard a lot of criticism for that movie. I’ve seen all of Kubrick. I mean, I love Barry Lyndon, and that’s there, but I think Eyes Wide Shut. I love Nicole [Kidman] and Tom [Cruise] in that film. By the way, there is no wrong answer for any of these filmmakers. CHASTAIN: Because they’re all brilliant. The final one is, do you have a favorite Scorsese? CHASTAIN: Is it Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore? Yeah. CHASTAIN: Yeah, that. Ellen Burstyn, right? I think he went straight from Mean Streets to that. I love cinema, and I’ve seen a lot of these filmmakers, and when I did The Tree of Life, I watched all of Terri [Malick]’s films in order, and then I started doing that with other filmmakers to see how they grew and changed as artists. When I went from Mean Streets to Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, I was blown away. I couldn’t understand how it was the same filmmaker, and I wish he would make more stories about female characters, because I think he just killed it.

Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore (1974)Image Via Warner Bros.

There’s a fantastic Apple TV doc on Scorsese, five parts, and it’s really worth your time. Anyone watching this, it’s really worth your time. CHASTAIN: Watch it! Absolutely. So, I love seeing movies in movie theaters. I’m sure you do as well. Do you have a favorite movie theater? CHASTAIN: My favorite movie theater has been shuttered and closed, but nothing has replaced it, so maybe us talking about this will bring it back. It was the Lincoln Center movie theater. It was across the street from Lincoln Center. I know which one you’re talking about. It’s the little threeplex. CHASTAIN: Yeah. You would go on an escalator underground. They closed it because the rent became too high, but then they didn’t do anything with the space. I really thought you were going to say the AMC Lincoln Center, and I was like, “Oh, that’s interesting. For the IMAX, I guess?” But not the one you picked. CHASTAIN: No, I like the theaters that are emotional. That was very emotional to me because it’s where I first saw Piano Teacher and all these incredible films. Also, the Aero Theatre, I will say, in Santa Monica, because I lived in Santa Monica, and I would go there and watch all the double features, so that just reminds me of my film history. What project scared you the most before saying yes? CHASTAIN: It’s one I actually produced, so it’s a bit crazy. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. It was [The Eyes of] Tammy Faye, by far, because she’s so different from me in the way she talks and the way she moves, the tone of her voice and everything, the comedic aspect, the silliness of her. The first day of shooting, my whole body was shaking, and I’ve never experienced that before. I was so scared. Which role left the biggest impact on you after wrapping? CHASTAIN: The Tree of Life by far. That Terrence Malick. What a gem of a human being. And also the opportunity to play the embodiment of grace. I highly recommend it.

Jessica Chastain as Mrs. O’Brien marvels at butterfly in “Tree of Life.”Image via Fox Searchlight 

Have you ever asked someone for their autograph? CHASTAIN: Yes. Antonio Sabàto Jr. at, like, a fair in Sacramento. [Laughs] This is not the answer I was expecting. CHASTAIN: Yes. I mean, I asked Helen Mirren for a photo. I was very shy, and I asked her for a photo when I first met her, and it was a few years before we ended up working together, which was kind of amazing. But Antonio Sabàto Jr., I had such a crush on him. I was very, very young, and my mom took me. I read he was going to be at some fair, like a bridal fair, probably doing a meet and greet, and my mom took me so I could meet him and get his autograph. Thank you for sharing that story. That’s amazing.

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Jessica Chastain Embraces the Risk of Michel Franco’s ‘Dreams’

“It’s really tough as an actor to work that way.”

Jumping into why I get to talk to you. First of all, you’re fantastic in this role. You’re always fantastic, but you’re fantastic in this. But I have to ask, and it’s a little bit jokey, is the message of this movie be careful who you fall in love with, especially if they’re an American? CHASTAIN: [Laughs] I think be careful who you fall in love with if you’re not on equal footing. You know, the haves and the have-nots. And sometimes, when you grow up with privilege, you think you know what’s best for everyone, and you think you no longer have the responsibility to listen because you believe that you have more education and more knowledge, but the reality is you probably don’t, and you need to listen. I know you’re offered a bunch of scripts, and you’re producing things now, but what was it about this project and this script that said, “I am doing this?” CHASTAIN: Michel Franco, 100%. I loved working with him on the film we did, Memory. He only shoots each scene as one take, so if you’re not great in that take, that’s it. There’s no editing that can fix the performance. You just show up, and you hope he chooses something that you’re decent in. But it’s really tough as an actor to work that way. It’s like live theater, but I love it. I love how collaborative he is. Also, I love this idea of this woman, where the power dynamic was shifted. Usually, we’ve seen the power dynamic with the man in power, but I loved that it was reversed. I loved that this is a woman living in San Francisco who believes she’s a good person. She’s very involved in philanthropy and helps immigrants, but at the end, she uses that shield to hide controlling and abusive behavior. Do you think she’s a good person? Do you think she realizes? Because there’s a lot behind what she puts out there. CHASTAIN: Yeah. I feel super sorry for this character. I mean, I wouldn’t say she or Fernando are good people. I don’t really think “good people” or “bad people” is a label we can give anyone. I think we’re all capable of any behavior when put in the right circumstances, which is why I loved director Park [Chan-wook]’s film that came out this year, No Other Choice. So, I think that she’s an average person who has grown up in a patriarchal family where her father and her brother love her with conditions and make decisions for her and treat her as a child. That’s her experience with love, and now she can only be in love if she has that with someone else, so she treats them as an object. She knows best. She’s in control. And it shows that sometimes a person who abuses or shows dominance comes from a learned background where this happened to them.
Jessica Chastain on Protecting Herself While Shooting Intimate Scenes

“You don’t have to be gratuitous.”

Jennifer (Jessica Chastain) and Fernando (Isaac Hernández) are sharing a romantic moment in their house.Image via Teorema

One of the things about this film that I have to touch on is that it has some pretty explicit sex scenes, but they’re not sex scenes just to throw a sex scene in. Each sex scene drives the story forward and reveals more about each character. As an actor, are you nervous about doing these scenes? What was it about these scenes that you felt like, “I have to do these, and this has to be in the movie?”

CHASTAIN: Yeah, I was absolutely… It’s like, “Ugh, do I really want to do a sex scene with a professional ballet dancer?” [Laughs] That is so complicated and difficult. For example, the staircase scene, it was my request. They were all in there, all the sex scenes, and I had asked Michel to explain what each one means and how it furthers the story. The staircase scene initially was supposed to be in the living room, and when we got into the living room, it’s all exposed windows. I just was like, “Okay, I know how you shoot. I don’t know how we shoot this in a way that feels protective of me. Can we find another place in the house?” And what I love about that staircase scene is we really feel like we are watching something that we shouldn’t see, but the reality is, there’s not a lot happening. I’m covered the whole scene, but it feels incredibly evocative, and a lot of people have talked about it. I think it goes to show that the more you hide, sometimes the stronger a scene like that can be. You don’t have to be gratuitous, basically.

No, 100%. One of the things that I’ve found, and I’m sure you’ve noticed it over the last number of years, is that Hollywood used to do a lot of sex scenes. It used to be a common thing in movies, and now they’re rare. CHASTAIN: It’s so funny you say this because I feel like I do sex scenes all the time. Every project I’m in. Even Tammy Faye, I was doing a love scene where she was pregnant. I mean, it’s it’s like something that I do. I gotta say, it could be something about the choices you’re making. I’m joking around. CHASTAIN: No, but I’m happy with it because, also, it’s not something that I’m, like, wanting to do. It’s something that really challenges me and is difficult for me, and when something is challenging and difficult, I know that I need to kind of run to it. And usually those parts, like Scenes From A Marriage or Jennifer, things like this, are difficult and require that kind of intimacy and vulnerability.
Jessica Chastain Calls Out the Privilege of “Disengaging”

“Cruelty has been normalized.”

Jennifer (Jessica Chastain) is seated at the theater looking for Fernando who is seated below.Image via Teorema

Something I definitely have to touch on is the fact that when you made this movie, which is over a year and a half ago, what’s depicted in the film about immigration and what’s happening in the real world right now are two totally different things. I want to touch on the role of immigration in the film and why it’s important to shine a light on this. CHASTAIN: What worries me most right now is how cruelty has been normalized. I know a lot of people are exhausted by the news, by what’s going on. I’m exhausted by everything that’s happening, but to disengage in some way — we’re talking about privilege today — disengaging is a privilege. There are some people who aren’t able to tune out of what’s happening because the current system affects their bodies, affects their families, affects their future, and definitely, this film connects to that. I think it’s what we’re dealing with now, when human beings are treated as numbers rather than as living, breathing lives with families and loved ones, so I think anything that continues that conversation is really important. We shouldn’t disengage. I completely agree. In fact, we should be rising up, but that’s a whole other thing, you know?
What’s Happening Next for Jessica Chastain?

The actress teases the projects she has in the works for the year.

Jessica Chastain on the red carpetClemens Niehaus/Future Image

I am very curious. What are you actually getting ready to film this year? Do you know what you are doing? CHASTAIN: Yes, I am currently working with Ben Stiller and Richard Gere and Michael Showalter. We’re having a reunion. It’s a modern-day noir. That’s all I can really say. It’s really, I think, great. And I love working with Ben. I haven’t been on set yet with Richard, but we’ve had our first week, and that was really exciting. I’m very excited to work with Elijah [Bynum], who made Magazine Dreams. He’s got a film that I think is genius, and I believe that’s happening this year. I mean, there’s so much. That’s why I’m asking you, because when I speak to you, it’s like you have 17 things lined up. CHASTAIN: I like to work. I like it. I’m happy to not work, but I feel more like I’m challenging myself when I’m busy. I’m not someone who really likes to sit around and do nothing. Even when I have time off, I’m going back to school. It’s important for me to constantly challenge myself, which is also the roles that I take. I don’t want to just do something that I’ve done before. It’s important for me to challenge myself. If something scares me, it’s important to jump in, and it’s difficult to say no when those projects show up. Also, for people who haven’t seen Magazine Dreams, it’s fantastic, and Jonathan Majors is fucking awesome in it. CHASTAIN: He’s incredible in it, and if he hadn’t behaved inappropriately, I think we would be talking about him a lot. But the sad thing is, I think the conversation moved away from the filmmaker, Elijah, who I do think is a genius, the way he shot that film, what he wrote. He is so exciting, and I’m really looking forward to our industry discovering him as a very important voice in cinema. Dreams is in theaters now.

Release Date

February 27, 2026

Runtime

95 Minutes

Director

Michel Franco

Writers

Michel Franco

Producers

Alexander Rodnyansky, Eréndira Núñez Larios, Michel Franco