Jessica Chastain is "so shy".
Jessica Chastain
The 'Zero Dark Thirty' star admits she suffers badly from shyness and finds it "funny" that she decided to become an actress, where she has to go out on a limb all the time.
Speaking to James Lipton for Inside the Actors Studio, she said: "I'm so shy. It's a strange thing. Acting for me has never been about wanting attention or wanting to be seen.
"It's funny that I'm in a profession where that's where I am. There's so much I want to express, it's about connecting with another person and the intimacy of what that is, and so I have to overcome my shyness."
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old actress recently insisted she "won't be acting" in a few years.
Talking about her future plans, she said: "Maybe at some point I won't be acting. Maybe I'll be producing or directing or teaching at Juilliard. I feel like something's happening. I feel like a change will soon happen in my life. Maybe I won't act for a few years. I'm happy, I'm content, but I could do something else for a bit."
And the flame-haired beauty wouldn't mind "disappearing" into the lives of the characters she plays in order to keep her personal life private.
She shared: "I want people to be more interested in my work than my personal life. I want to disappear into the characters I'm playing and not have the audience say, 'Oh, she's going through a divorce right now.'
Speaking about how she chooses her roles, she added: "If I can help create empathy and balance in society, I'm going to do whatever I can to tell stories that subconsciously create that. When I get a script that has the opportunity to create discussion and inspire young girls, I don't want to say no to that. If something comes to me before it has financing and I can help get it made, I feel a responsibility in that. I just want to contribute."
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