Mama – Production Notes - I Watch Mike

ABOUT THECASTAcademy Award ® nominee JESSICA CHASTAIN(Annabel) has emerged asone of Hollywood’s mostsought-after actors of hergeneration.Following a whirlwind2011, in which she receivedseveral nominations andaccolades for her work fromthe Los Angeles Film CriticsAssociation, BAFTA, theBroadcast Film Critics Association, the HollywoodForeign Press Association, the Screen Actors Guild andthe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, shehas had an equally impressive 2012.Chastain was last seen in The Weinstein Company’sLawless, opposite Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy, whichwas released in August 2012. Set in Depression-eraFranklin County, Virginia, and directed by John Hillcoatand produced by Douglas Wick, the film follows abootlegging gang that finds itself under violent pressurefrom authorities.Chastain also lent her voice to DreamWorksAnimation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted asthe character of Gia the Jaguar. The film opened tohuge numbers and outstanding reviews.In fall 2012, Chastain was seen on Broadway ina starring role in the Tony Award-winning play TheHeiress. She currently stars in Zero Dark Thirty, KathrynBigelow’s much anticipated follow-up to The HurtLocker; the new film was released in December 2012.Chastain recently wrapped production onThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His andThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers, alsostarring James McAvoy and written and directed byNed Benson.In 2011, she starred opposite Brad Pitt and Sean Pennin the Academy Award ® -nominated drama The Tree ofLife, written and directed by Terrence Malick for RiverRoad Entertainment. The film won the Palme d’Or atthe 2011 Cannes Film Festival and the Best PictureAward from the Chicago Film Critics Association.Also in 2011, Chastain was seen in Ami CanaanMann’s Texas Killing Fields, opposite Sam Worthingtonand Chloë Grace Moretz; Miramax’s The Debt,alongside Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington; the onscreenadaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedyCoriolanus as Virgilia, opposite Ralph Fiennes andGerard Butler; and Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, oppositeMichael Shannon, which won a plethora of awardsduring the 2011 film festival circuit and received a FilmIndependent Spirit Award nomination.Chastain is best known for the role of Celia Foote,an insecure Southern lady constantly trying to fit in withthe high-society women who reject her, in DreamWorks’Academy Award ® -nominated adaptation of the bestsellingKathryn Stockett novel “The Help.” The filmreceived numerous accolades in 2011, includingChastain’s Oscar ® , Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guildand Critics’ Choice Movie Award nominations for BestSupporting Actress.Born and raised in Northern California, Chastainattended the Juilliard School in New York City.While there, she starred in a production of Romeoand Juliet and went on to receive glowing reviewsfor her performances in The Cherry Orchard,opposite Michelle Williams at the WilliamstownTheatre Festival, and in Richard Nelson’s Rodney’sWife, opposite David Strathairn, off-Broadway atPlaywrights Horizons.Chastain returned to the stage in Los Angelesin the Wadsworth Theatre production of Salome;Academy Award ® winners Estelle Parsons (director)and Al Pacino handpicked Chastain to play the titlerole, opposite Pacino. Continuing the collaboration,producer Barry Navidi commenced the film version– 20 –