Jessica Chastain wishes she had told a male filmmaker to "f*** off" after he flirted with her.
Jessica Chastain
The 41-year-old actress has regularly voiced her support for the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns, which were launched for women to share their stories of sexual abuse and harassment in the wake of the revelations that were made public in 2017 about movie producer Harvey Weinstein's conduct towards women throughout his Hollywood career.
Jessica has opened up about her own experience of inappropriate behaviour in the movie business and admitted she shouldn't have just laughed off the incident involving an unknown former colleague.
Speaking to Marie Claire magazine for their 'Change Makers' issue, she said: "For months, I tried to make it light, laugh it off.
"Now I wish I had just told him to f*** off."
Jessica suggested that the fact she was a people-pleaser made her brush over what happened.
She said: "I used to be so obsessed with wanting to accommodate others.
"Like, in the beginning of my career, when I had ideas about my character or a scene, I felt like I had to go through the male actors.
"I'd go to them and say, 'Ooooh, what are we going to do?'
"And they'd say, 'Don't worry. I'll take care of it.'
"They would go to the director and the director would take them seriously."
The 'It: Chapter Two' star has had other women try to silence her from making public feminist statements.
She said: "I've had people tell me, 'You need to be a little more quiet with all this woman talk."
But nothing will stop her from sharing her views and experiences on inequality and discrimination against females, and she feels it's time for people to start asking questions about why men are given all of the bigger opportunities over women.
She said: "I agree there are not as many women as men that have the same experience, but that's because, in the past, women have been actively discriminated against.
"Male directors who had their first film in Sundance, their next offer is a huge action movie.
"Women haven't been given those opportunities, and we need to ask why."
Jessica says change is already happening thanks to the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, which enabled women to have a voice and stand up to bullies.
She said: "The public has answered back in a resounding, hopeful way that change is possible and we're not going to be dictated to by bullies."
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