Jessica Chastain

For the most part, I was surprised by the representation of female characters onscreen. I do hope that when we include more female storytellers, we will have more of the women that I recognize in my day to day life.

I started a production company - all female led, actually - called Freckle Films.

I went to public school, and I didn't do well in school. And it wasn't until, actually, I got into school at Juilliard - it was the first time in my life that I thought, 'Oh, maybe I'm not stupid,' because I was so inspired and passionate about what I was learning, and it was the first time in my life I had felt that.

Before, it was just about making the films - and now it's releasing them. Which is a steep learning curve.

There's a lot of criticism on how an actress is aging. Why do we do that with women? I work with a lot of men who take terrible care of themselves - they drink too much, or they eat too much. We need to allow women to age.

I struggled for so long to try to create a career.

Some people think I've had a nose job. I've never had anything like that done, but I have no judgement of anyone that does.

If someone doesn't want to hire me because they think I'm too vocal, fine. I will do a play. I will always find a job. Let them try to get me out of this industry. I am not going to be silenced!

My grandmother took me to a play, and... there was a little girl on stage. And as soon as I saw her on stage, I thought, 'This is my job'... I was probably, like, 7 or 8. I was very young... It was 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'.

I talked to congressmen who really hate having to go to the many fundraisers, but they see it as a necessary part of their job.

If I were Elizabeth Sloane, I wouldn't be wearing makeup. I'd just be focused on getting the job done.

My goal is that a girl will watch 'The Martian' or 'Interstellar' and think, 'I want to be an astronaut or a quantum physicist.' It's important to show powerful women who are good at their jobs because young girls need those examples.