Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac have shared a pretty good friendship. The duo also collaborated on J. C. Chandor’s 2014 acclaimed crime thriller A Most Violent Year and in Max (formerly HBO) miniseries Scenes from a Marriage.
The duo has shared a 20-year-long friendship and they have cherished it even in public. However, Scenes from a Marriage was tough for the stars and it took a toll on Chastain. The intensity of the script and drama behind it was pretty rough as Molly’s Game star rather have the peaceful time she usually has after filming.
Here’s Why Jessica Chastain Needed a Break from Oscar Isaac
MCU’s Moon Knight star Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain’s Scenes from a Marriage follows a falling marriage and the love and toxicity born out of it. Talking to Vanity Fair about her experiences working in the miniseries Chastain revealed the emotional journey she had with Issac. “Yeah, but there’s a lot of joy too. I mean, Scenes From a Marriage was very tough,” Chastain told the magazine.
“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. 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.”
The actor continued by saying that she enjoys living a quiet life and the series has really interrupted her tranquility. “But then I live a very quiet life. I don’t have to have these tortured things in my life,” she continued. “I play them and I experience them, and then I come home and I live quietly and peacefully,” she concluded. It’s not like the friendship ended but the duo felt a lot different after the show.
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac Had a Couple’s Workbook
For Chastain, Scenes from a Marriage was hard as the series peeked into the deepest human emotional journey with their partner. Also, it took a lot preparing for the role for her. Of course, being close friends with Issac might ease the flow of continuity but the show inherently required the best of the stars. “Prep for me, I had to see Oscar in a different way, which was complicated because these characters are best friends, and they know so much about each other,” Chastain told People adding that she had to change Issac’s name on her phone. “So I had to, I literally changed his name in my phone to Jonathan. I did. Because every time he texted me, I wanted it to say ‘Jonathan,’ so it could just remind me of the project, you know?” she added. Further, the 46-year-old revealed that they used a couple’s workbook to prepare for their roles.
“I have this book, it’s one of those cheesy books that couples have where there’s two partners, and you answer all these questions called ‘All About Us.’ I think my husband and I got it and we were like, ‘We’re not doing this,’ but I had it and I thought, ‘What if Oscar and I do it as the characters so before we start shooting, we have our backstory?'” Chastain said.
Explaining the couple’s book, the Zero Dark Thirty star said, “So what we did is, one of the questions was ‘Favorite memory of your wedding,’ so I wrote ‘Jonathan dancing at the wedding,’ and he wrote something.” They filled the entire book with memories and it helped Chastain to see Issac as Jonathan, his character in the series.
Scenes from a Marriage can be streamed on Max.
Source: Vanity Fair.
