“I was the first person in my family to go to college.” How Jessica Chastain Went From a Starving Child to a Hollywood Star

It seems that Jessica Chastain’s life is a fairy tale: she appeared out of nowhere and conquered Hollywood, like a storm, met a charming son of a count and became his wife. In fact, the star worked long and hard to make her way from poverty into the world of big cinema. And she didn’t even think about getting married.

We at CHEERY decided to dig deeper into the biography of the successful and diverse actress who showed with her own example that we should chase our dreams, no matter what.

The Oscar-winning actress doesn’t like to talk about the details of her childhood, but it’s known that it was tough. Jessica was raised by a single mom that worked a lot, and they still didn’t have enough money, “There were many nights when we had to go to sleep without eating. It was a very difficult upbringing. Things weren’t easy for me growing up.”

When she was a teenager, things weren’t very well, either: Jessica thought she was a loser, she was mocked at for her red hair and freckles, so she’d often miss classes. Instead of school, she’d read Shakespeare plays. Because of how many lessons she skipped, she couldn’t finish school with everyone else. She got her diploma in middle school for adults.

Thanks to her talents and love for Shakespeare, Chastain entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and made her professional stage debut as Juliet. Later, she entered college and she was really worried she wouldn’t make it, “I was the first person in my family to go to college. I was terrified by this idea that my whole family was paying for it and I could get cut from the program.”

When her studies ended, Jessica moved to Los Angeles and started attending auditions. But the beginner actress had problems because of her hair color, “Being a redhead and not having very conventionally modern looks, it was confusing for people, and they didn’t know exactly where to put me.”

For a long time, she had small roles in tv-series episodes and remained unknown in the industry. Only when she was 34, she became successful after she appeared in the 2011 film The Help. She got her first Oscar nomination for this drama.

Jessica remembers her nomination for The Help very well. In 2017, she shared an archive photo where herself and her grandmother attend the Awards. She said, “That moment was monumental in my life. It’s wonderful to be part of an industry filled with open-hearted people.”

Since 2011, Chastain has been one of the most popular modern actresses. In just 1 year, Jessica was in 6 movies and tried herself in different genres: drama, horror, sci-fi, documentary, and action.

2012 was a special year for her, and not only because of her first Oscar. She met her future husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo at the Paris Fashion Show. He is the son of a count, from the ancient Italian aristocrats. The family dates back to 973, which makes them older than the British monarchy. Of course, Jessica was really happy about her new boyfriend, “It’s a wonderful thing when a career does so well and your personal life goes so well.”

In one of the early interviews, Jessica said that the most surprising thing for her was that no one in his family has ever been divorced! She also said that her future husband completely changed her attitude toward marriage. “When I first met my husband, he knew that marriage wasn’t something I was interested in. And then as we got to know each other, the idea of marriage shifted for me. There are some things worth celebrating — and he’s worth celebrating.”

In 2017, 40-year-old Jessica got married to 34-year-old Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo. The wedding took place not far from Venice, in a beautiful Italian villa, owned by the Passi de Preposulo family.

The actress says she has never been happier, “I think it’s different for each person. I was told that the first year of marriage would be really difficult and people warned me, but actually, it’s incredible.”

The spouses protect their family’s happiness and don’t share details of their private lives with fans. But it’s known that they are raising 2 children. In 2018, they had Giulietta, born via a gestational carrier, and 2 years later, they had a son, Augustus.

Having 2 kids and a husband didn’t make her a less active actress. The star won an Oscar in 2022 and attended the ceremony with her husband.

We’re sincerely happy about how the life of this talented actress is going, and we hope nothing bad will happen to her.

What did you have to do to chase your dream?