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Jessica Chastain’s Friendship With Oscar Isaac Was Almost Ruined By A Role: “Never Quite The Same”-TGN

Summary

  • Jessica Chastain revealed that starring in Scenes from a Marriage with Oscar Isaac tested their friendship, and their bond has never been quite the same since.

  • Scenes from a Marriage was a 2021 American remake of a 1973 Swedish miniseries from Ingmar Bergman.

  • It is unlikely that Chastain and Isaac will collaborate again in the near future.

Jessica Chastain revealed that co-starring in Scenes from a Marriage with Oscar Issac tested their friendship. The miniseries, which was released on HBO in 2021, is a remake of the 1973 Swedish miniseries of the same name written and directed by world cinema legend Ingmar Bergman. Isaac and Chastain starred as Jonathan and Mira, a married couple whose bond is put under intense strain over the course of five episodes.

Vanity Fair recently published an interview with Jessica Chastain regarding her 2023 Emmy nomination. In the interview, which was conducted before the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Jessica Chastain touched on previous comments she had made about herself and Isaac harnessing their longtime friendship to fuel their relationship in Scenes from a Marriage. She said that their relationship has “never been quite the same” since then, and she needed “a little bit of a breather” to recover. Read her full quote below:

Scenes From a Marriage was very tough. 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.

Will Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac Collaborate Again?

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac have been longtime friends since they met at Juilliard. However, Scenes from a Marriage was only their second onscreen collaboration, despite both playing major villains in consecutive X-Men movies. Seven years before joining the Scenes from a Marriage cast, they co-starred in the 2014 movie A Most Violent Year.

Given Chastain’s recent comment, it seems unlikely that they will work together again in the near future. However, once seven more years have passed, it would seem fitting for them to reunite. However, neither of their previous collaborations seem especially ripe for a sequel, so it would most likely have to be in an entirely new project.

Perhaps appearing in a different genre from the tense drama of Scenes from a Marriage would help them restore their friendship. It wouldn’t be entirely outside the realm of possibility for the pair to star opposite one another in a romantic comedy or something similar. While neither star has had much chance to show off their comedy chops, both have set a precedent by providing voices for animated comedies, with Isaac starring in The Addams Family and its sequel and Chastain lending her talents to Madagascar 3.

Source: Vanity Fair