Actress Jessica Chastain has had a busy year, with the release of a number of exciting projects. Her new horror movie titled Other Mommy arrived in theaters back in October, and she's got a mystery thriller called Heartland coming out for those with a Netflix subscription. It turns out she got so into character on set that her face actually changed. No, she didn't use makeup to make that happen.
Chastain's Other Mommy face went viral when the movie came out, thanks to the unsettling smile slapped on her face during the movie's runtime. As you can see in the video above, I asked the Oscar-winning actress to compare the physical transformation she had for that movie and Heartland, and she told me:
I noticed something which, this is the first time I saw it in a character. I had so much kind of like anger playing Misty and like, I felt like very sensitive. Even though she's angry, I just felt like Misty should be so sensitive and so wounded that she can get hurt really easily so she reacts almost like an abused animal would react.
She's not wrong. Having seen the movie early, Misty does feel like an abused animal at times. There's a palpable sense of anger and hurt throughout most of her scenes, sometimes coming to a boil with Chastain vandalizing the property of her enemies. I loved watching her pop off throughout the movie's 112-minute runtime, mostly because I wish I could be so unapologetic IRL.
Later in our same conversation, the Mama actress went on to share how her character's anger physically manifested in her face when shooting Heartland. As she told me:
And I have like my chin in this movie has a dimple like on the side from tension that I'm holding that I've never seen before in a character that I've played. Um, and it was the first time I was like, 'Oh wow, that's so interesting that whatever I was feeling as this character changed my face a little bit. I mean, I guess it goes to show how powerful emotions are that they can physically change what you look like.
How trippy is that? Even Jessica Chastain was surprised by how playing Misty physically affected her. She's likely seen her own face on screen countless times over the years, so it was noticeably when a new dimple on her chin suddenly appeared. That shows just how deep into character she was while shooting Heartland. This commitment is a big reason why she's had such a celebrated career.
Fans will get to see her transformation into fictional country singer Misty Jones when Heartland arrives on Netflix November 13th as part of the 2026 movie release list. In addition to having drama and action, Chastain also belts out some country tunes in the new thriller.
