- Jessica Chastain and Sophie, doing promotional work for Dark Phoenix, talked to E! News about the importance of strong female characters like theirs.
- Jessica Chastain explained, "It'll be nice, when we get to the point too when we make these films, that we don't have to say, 'It's great to see a strong female character, well, it's just normal.'"
- In fact, Jessica Chastain is one of Marie Claire's change makers on the cover of our April 2019 issue.
It looks like Jessica Chastain and Sophie Turner are having a blast promoting Dark Phoenix, including some very real foot blisters thanks to their seriously high heels. In the film, Jessica's character (who doesn't have a name and is very mysterious as of yet) ends up being highly influential on Sophie's Jean Grey. And the same appears to be happening IRL: The two have a sweet chemistry in interviews together and talk honestly about what their powerful female characters have meant to them.
"Growing up, I didn't really feel like...I'd seen a superhero movie with a really strong female at the helm," Turner said in the interview. "Now, it's so great that young girls and young boys and your daughter [pointing to Jessica] can grow up and watch this movie and look at it and say, 'Oh wow, what a strong, well-rounded, accurate representation of a woman."
"Also, all women are strong and all women are incredible and powerful," Chastain added. "It'll be nice, when we get to the point too when we make these films, that we don't have to say, 'It's great to see a strong female character, well, it's just normal.'"
"Yeah," agreed Turner. "It's just a character."
In a cover story with Marie Claire, Jessica touched upon sexism and the work that has led her to Freckle Films, an all-women production company.
"I’ve had people tell me, ‘You need to be a little more quiet with all this woman talk,’” Chastain admits, laughing, adding she has no interest in perpetuating damaging sexist tropes about what women should be and do, on- or off-screen..."I learned it’s impossible to make everybody happy. At the end of the day, just do stuff that you’re proud of and don’t be an asshole.”
Dark Phoenix comes out in June:
Katherine J Igoe (she/her) was a contributing editor for Cosmopolitan and is a freelancer covering style, lifestyle, culture, and beauty (she's obsessed with gift guides, best-of movie lists, and beauty products). She's been a freelance writer and editor for over a decade, previously working for Marie Claire (2018 to 2021) and Bustle (2021), with bylines in the The New York Times, Parents magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in Boston with her family, and you can follow her on Instagram or Twitte. It's "I go to dinner," not "Her huge ego," but she responds to both.
