Jessica Chastain to play country music icon

LOS ANGELES—Jessica Chastain will not only sing for the first time onscreen; she will play the late Tammy Wynette, considered the First Lady of country music. The actress casually dropped this coming surprise role in our recent conversation in West Hollywood.

Singing and portraying a music icon in “No Show Jones” is one of the challenges that Jessica enjoys as one of the finest actresses of her generation.

Jessica takes a break from serious roles in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” where she plays Sara, a feisty warrior. In a recent trip to Singapore, the red-haired vegan indulged her love of durian, the Asian fruit that’s often described this way: “Smells like hell, but tastes like heaven.”

Jessica brought the fruit that she first tasted in Thailand several years ago to her recent guest appearance on the TV show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

The Golden Globe winner and two-time Oscar nominee ate a mouthful of durian with relish. Then, she plucked a clump of the fruit and popped it into Jimmy’s mouth. The TV host pronounced, “It’s on the line between horrible and delicious. I feel like throwing up a little bit right now.”

Well, Jessica may eat durian with gusto but during our chat, she got us worried when she suddenly had a coughing attack and seemed to be choking after sipping tea. After drinking from a bottled water, her coughing finally stopped.

“It’s the spice,” Jessica explained. “I almost died,” she quipped with a smile. “That’s the story right there. You probably think I got very emotional talking about love (laughs). Now, I sound like Kathleen Turner (laughs).”

We were talking about her character Sara’s love and trust issues with Chris’ Eric/Huntsman in the movie that also stars Emily Blunt (whom Jessica fondly calls Em) and Charlize Theron.

In real life, the actress has been in a relationship with Count Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, an Italian fashion executive, since 2012.

The classically trained thespian will be seen next in Niki Caro’s “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” an adaptation of Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction book of the same name.

Excerpts from our chat:

After “The Huntsman,” what’s next for you?

I’m excited to work with Aaron Sorkin (for his directing debut, “Molly’s Game”).

I’m doing a movie (“Woman Walks Ahead”) in which the majority of the cast is Native American. I’ve never been on a reservation.

I’m going to do a little singing next year (“No Show Jones”). I’m looking forward to that film with Josh Brolin. So, every movie is very different from the last.

What kind of singing will you do with Josh Brolin?

Country music. Yep, we’re doing George Jones and Tammy Wynette. They were like the Sid (Vicious) and Nancy (Spungen) of the country world.

How much fun did you have with Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt in “The Huntsman”?

It was amazing. Emily and I shared a makeup trailer. The sad thing is, I’m not in those scenes with Charlize and Emily, so I would have a break and they’d shoot their scenes. The only stuff I got to shoot with Charlize was the end, which we shot for about two weeks.

But Emily and I became very close. On the day that Charlize was coming in, I said to Em, “I’m really nervous because I loved her in the first film.”

Charlize is probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her genetics is insane, and she’s a true broad, which I love. She was everything I’d hoped she’d be… and cooler. It was good once we were together and in the woods. I was always with Nick Frost, Rob Brydon and Chris… once we got on set with Charlize and Em, Chris just had no chance!

How did Chris take this razzing from the women?

It’s like what sisters would do to a brother. He said it was like being around sisters, where he would be like, “I want to hang out,” and they’d say, “Get out of my room!”

How tough was it not to fall for Chris?

(Laughs) Being an actor, you always have to remind yourself that this is acting—it isn’t real. But what really helps is that the set was so much fun. Emily, Charlize and Chris were bringing their kids to the set. Chris’ wife, Elsa, also came. We were all hanging out and going to dinners with my boyfriend.

With Chris and Elsa, Emily and John around, there was no way that your brain could get tricked, because you were always aware like, yes, this is just a movie. But when you’re playing a character, like in “The Tree of Life,” when I had to say goodbye to those three little boys, I was depressed. It was a tough time for me.

How proactive are you at dating?

I’ve asked people out before. I’m super-modern. One time, I asked someone I liked to kiss me (laughs). So yeah, I’m pretty brave, but I also like it when my partner is brave, as well.

I understand that Nick and Rob made you laugh during takes.

I’m used to doing movies where everything is so serious.

So, we were doing this movie, and there was a shot where I was lying on the ground. I thought the camera was just shooting Rob and Nick. They were tied up, and they just started improvising, saying things about my character that were ridiculous.

When they finally cut, the cameraman said to me, “Jessica, are you supposed to be smiling?” Because the whole time, I’d be like this (she smiles), and couldn’t go back to normal… they’d say something that was so ridiculous that I would lose it!

How did you get a scholarship from Robin Williams?

I got the Robin Williams Scholarship [at the Juilliard School]. I’m the first person in my family to go to college. He was an alumni of Julliard. Getting in was so exciting. We weren’t a very wealthy family. We were normal, but having a child going to college in New York is shockingly expensive.

I got a scholarship that paid for my last two years of school, that included everything—apartment, books, traveling back and forth for Christmas. It was so generous and truly special. To be honest, I don’t know why I was chosen. That, to me, is a huge mystery.

The sad thing is, we’d sent notes back and forth to each other, but I actually never got to meet him in person. There was one time when I first moved to LA. I had a meeting, and they asked me about the scholarship. As I’m telling them the story, Robin Williams comes into the restaurant, sits down at the table next to us.

I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh, he’s here!” My lunch companion said, “You have to talk to him.” But Robin was eating, and I was very nervous. I’m shy around people. I said, “I’m going to wait until he’s done eating, then I’ll go say hello.” But before they even cleared his plate, he jumped up as though he was late for something and ran out. I stood up, but I realized I’m not going to chase him out of the door.

I’m devastated that I didn’t actually chase him out of the restaurant and stop him. But my best friend Jess (Weixler, actress) ended up working with him. They sent me messages, and we were texting. But it’s devastating to me that I was never able to thank him in person. What he did for me was life-changing.

How are you going to spend summer?

I’m going to spend some time in New York. I have a beautiful house there that I love. Leonard Bernstein lived there when he wrote “West Side Story.” I’m such an old-fashioned kind of gal that I’m going to go in there and sing “Tonight” (sings) for three months and go see a lot of Broadway [musicals] and plays, including “Shakespeare in the Park.”

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