Jessica Chastain has found this past year to be quite the fruitful one, with roles in such films as The Tree of Life, The Help and The Debt, among others. Although her career has virtually just begun, she’s already taking the step that is generally reserved for actors who have thoroughly established themselves as dramatic talents—the embodiment of an icon of modern history in the most sacred of films…the biopic. And the subject of Chastain’s new film is just about as significant a figure as you can get: Princess Diana.
A lot of pretty substantial biopics are being churned out nowadays. Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, coming out later this month. Martin Scorsese is developing a film about Frank Sinatra, with Leonardo DiCaprio (of course) to star. And Chastain will play Princess Di in the biopic film Caught in Flight, by director Oliver Hirschbiegel.
Hirschbiegel is responsible for The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, as well the acclaimed Das Experiment and Downfall. The latter chronicles the demise of the Third Reich during the final episodes of World War II. And although you may not be particularly familiar with it by title, we can guarantee that you have seen one very famous scene in Downfall, in one form or another.
As said, this is a big step for the relative greenhorn that is Chastain. In just a short time, she has advanced to a Hollywood omnipresence, with roles increasing in size exponentially. Being cast as Princess Diana is as big an honor as an actress can earn, and many of us are glad to see the talented Chastain advancing with such speed. Good things to come.
Source: Indiewire
