RIVER ROAD ENTERTAINMENT Presents BRAD PITT SEAN PENN ...

The beating heart of Jack O’Brien’s youthful memories is his mother, a luminous beacon of compassion,
tolerance and unbounded love, and later of intense heartbreak. To play Mrs. O’Brien, Malick sought out an
actress who most audiences would be seeing fresh, for the first time.
“The mother needed to be someone who just exudes love, who is the embodiment of grace, and so
ideally, she would be someone who didn’t bring a lot of public history,” explains Green. “We were hoping to
find someone new, which isn’t easy because people become exposed so quickly in this day and age. But Jessica
Chastain had been quietly working in New York, studying her craft, and when we saw her it was a real ‘aha’
moment.”
Chastain, who earned a scholarship to Julliard after a series of Shakespearean performances in San
Francisco, has done most of her work on the New York stage, making her feature film debut in 2008 in the indie
feature JOLENE. She also appeared with Al Pacino in SALOME, and it was Pacino who first recommended her
to Malick.
The entire filmmaking team remembers her audition. “I think we all had the instant conviction that
Jessica was right for the role,” says Gardner. “She plays a woman who is the essence of goodness and patience,
and Jessica is that. She’s very unusual in her comportment. She’s other-worldly in her beauty, almost
translucent, and she brings a feeling of grace and kindness that dovetails so beautifully with the mother of this
family.”
“Jessica did a beautiful job of creating this almost silent, but solid, strong force that holds the family
together,” adds Hill.
Right before her audition, Chastain held her own private Malick Film Festival. “I watched all his films
in chronological order and when I was finished I felt like, ‘I love this person,’” she says. “There’s this
connection in his work between nature and spirit that moves me and I love how he explores the ways we
navigate between the two – and the question of are we animals or are we evolved, spiritual beings? And I found
that this also how Terry is as a person. He’s such a smart, scientific man, on the one hand, but then he is also is a
great believer in the spirit.”
It was only after she got the role that Chastain saw the script and, at first, she was in awe of her
character. “She’s the kind of woman that you aspire to be, all goodness and trust and forgiveness,” she explains.
“It’s difficult to think of playing a character who is that spiritual and pure. But then I realized the way into her
was through her love for her children. That was the key. “
She continues, “Mrs. O’Brien is someone who her whole life has said if I put others before me and am
kind to all than everything will be OK. And then when it’s not, that shakes her faith and raises questions. Why
are we here? Is there something beyond? Are you even real? I think it is at that moment that the universe
answers her – and I think for each person watching, the answer will mean a different thing.”
As part of her preparation, Chastain also dove into period research. “I watched movies from the 30s and
40s, especially a lot of Lauren Bacall, which Terry asked me to, because he said there was a different way of
talking then. He said to me, and I find this true, that nowadays we speak so fast because we’re afraid someone is
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