“Our friendship has never quite been the same” - Jessica Chastain on Oscar Isaac after Scenes From a Marriage

The HBO drama miniseries, Scenes From a Marriage, has emotionally captivated viewers by delving into the complexities of human relationships, showcasing their raw vulnerability. Adapted from Ingmar Bergman's renowned Swedish miniseries of the same title, the American version features talented actors Oscar Isaac as Jonathan Levy and Jessica Chastain as Mira Phillips.

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Issac are otherwise known to be great friends off-screen and their electric chemistry made fans go ga-ga at the Venice Film Festival red carpet in 2021. However, in an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair dated August 1, 2023, Chastain expressed that the making of the show, Scenes From a Marriage, took its toll on her relationship with her co-actor.

She says,

"Scenes From a Marriage was very tough. And I love Oscar [Isaac], but the reality is, our friendship has never quite been the same. We’re going to be okay, but after that, I was like, I need a little bit of a breather. There was so much I love you, I hate you in that series."

Chastain earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Film for her role as Mira in The Scenes From a Marriage.

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Jessica Chastain on finding joy in her work and her relationship with her Scenes From a Marriage co-star

After Jessica Chastain's back-to-back stellar performances in films, television shows, and Broadway performances such as The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), George & Tammy (2022) and A Doll's House (2023), Chastain says that she derives joy in the work that she does despite the intensity. She tells Vanity Fair's, David Canfield,

“But there’s so much joy in what I get to do. There’s a lot of catharsis. I feel like I have the best job in the world because I get to have these experiences. They’re so out of this world and feel like they’re mine. But then I live a very quiet life. I don’t have to have these tortured things in my life. I play them and I experience them, and then I come home and I live quietly and peacefully.”

The 47-year-old actor who has been the recipient of an Academy Award and a Golden Globe had her breakthrough in 2011 as she starred in six films altogether. She starred in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life which won a Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival while her performance in Zero Dark Thirty as the CIA agent, Maya Harris, drew international attention and critical acclaim.

Her Scenes From a Marriage co-star, Oscar Issac, spoke on their viral moment from the Venice Red Carpet saying,

“This is not DNA, this is just at a cellular level, and that’s how Jessica and I kind of talk to each other.”

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Jessica Chastain on the strikes in Hollywood

In light of the double strike in Hollywood, the Interstellar star has been vocal about her support of the cause.

As she went into the strike with most other Hollywood stars, she spoke on the differences in the same exclusive covering her first Emmy nomination and experience with projects like Scenes From a Marriage,

"We’ve had much advancements and innovations in our technology and in streaming and in content creation. The contracts never kept in line with the innovations that were happening in technology. And because of that, the people that are in their Honda Civic going from audition to audition, hoping to get a guest spot on something for $3,000, and then not getting residuals if it’s going to streamers, that is not enough money to live for months and take care of yourself and support a family."

Chastain continues,

"There are a lot of downloads and streams, and someone’s making a lot of money, and it’s not the everyday actors out there working hard, or the writers who make a show happen."

Jessica Chastain is set to produce and feature in Mothers’ Instinct beside Anne Hathaway and will also star in Michel Franco's Memory beside Peter Sarsgaard.