Anne Hathaway & Jessica Chastain | Mother's Instinct

Jess for president. [laughing]

Oh my gosh, Anne.

It was amazing to work together on set

because I really felt like I had someone I could trust.

You know, making a film in 24 days

is not an easy thing to do, especially a period piece.

And to know that we had to really just throw ourselves in

as deeply as we could, and that someone like Annie,

who's a phenomenal actress and producer,

not only is she giving this beautiful performance,

but she's able to keep the wheels on the cart,

and see the finish line,

and know that I could link arms with someone like that.

The very last scene we did had to be quite physical,

even in those violent moments,

to know that we can let ourselves go

and just play it as real as we possibly could

without hurting each other

and be safe in that scenario was incredibly important to me.

You just took the words right out of my mouth.

I felt so safe.

And it's really something to feel safe enough to be ugly.

Yeah. It feels something

to feel safe enough to be violent towards someone

and know that they are somehow looking at you with hatred,

but also with complete and total support.

And I just, you know, I just have to say

it's funny to be a fan of a friend,

and when we hang out, like, we're just friends,

Yeah. Like, it's just normal.

We're just friends. And then I see Jessica

out there in the world killing it.

And the thing that I haven't gotten to see

is my friend on set killing it.

And I just have to say, Jess is the most amazing leader.

She's the sort of person

you absolutely wanna have in charge.

She should rule the world.

It would be a much better world.

And it was just, I mean, truly an artistic honor.

It was just a human honor.

And yeah, Jess for president. [laughing]

Oh my gosh, Anne.

It's really hard to put your own experiences into a project

with a character dealing with circumstances

that are so foreign to what you've experienced.

I mean, what I love so much about acting

is it really is an exercise in empathy

because you get to walk in these shoes

that you have never had a chance to walk in.

I mean, my character really, it was an exploration

not only of motherhood, but of anxiety.

When we meet her, we realize she's been committed before,

we realize she's had a lot of, I don't know, restrictions,

and pushback against the woman she longs to be.

And I feel quite different in my life for that.

So it was more

about trying to connect to something outside of myself.

You almost wanna keep yourself

and your experiences removed just because you're dealing

with a subject matter that's so painful.

But it just underscored my deeply held belief

that mental health is everything

and mental health support is so important.

And something that I think the movie does do a good job of

is showing that we do, especially during this time,

women were so isolated.

They had such prescribed identities

that were based on outside notions of gender.

And that's really, really toxic.

So the first, you know, few minutes of the movie

where everything's going okay, there's a happiness there,

but it's not supported by anything.

And so when that layer is removed

and you actually see

how much pain these women are dealing with,

how unhealed they are,

that's really what becomes the conduit

for everything that unfolds.

I love women.

I love my friends, I love my collaborators.

When you have a friendship

with someone who's so excellent at what they do,

it's not just the excellence,

it's also, they're so inclusive as a human being.

What is the quote?

Like The rising...

A rising tide lifts all boats.

She really has that spirit, so I've leaned on her so much.

I leaned on her while we were shooting this.

I've leaned on her as a mother, as a wife, as a human being,

walking through this world,

navigating the waters of Hollywood as a woman.

I don't know what I would've done

had I not had incredible women in my life to lean on.

It's everything.

It's the way it should be.

And also I just feel like we're at our best

when we're collaborators.

Yes.

And when we are sharing,

and when we learn from each other.

I literally called Jess a few months ago

because I needed advice on a very specific thing.

And I like, went through like all of my friends, I'm like,

Who is gonna actually help me out the most?

And I was like, Jess.

And Jess had so much going on.

You were in the middle of like seven press tours,

and like, you were on set.

You were doing all these things.

I think I was walking through the airport and I was like,

Annie's calling. I think you had just landed,

and you took the call, and I was on my way into something

that I didn't feel ready for,

and you just talked me through how it was gonna go.

And you gave me exactly what I needed,

and I was so grateful, and it went well.

I'm sitting next to the person, the woman that I lean on

in times when I feel like I'm gonna pull up short.

My character's backstory is based on a real story

that I read about that happened to someone

where she was put into a twilight state to give birth,

and when she woke up, they had removed her uterus.

And I remember thinking that that was such a violating act.

And she's a very famous woman.

And so I...

And and she kind of went on,

and had this whole life after that.

And I just remember thinking

if that was at the core of my character,

the rage that would be

just kind of underneath this really pretty surface.

And that would be so much of what was fueling her,

and so much of what she was pushing down,

and insisting how happy she was.

And on some level she would be happy.

But there's actually more to the story than that.

And I think that when we live in a society

that does not respect people's bodily autonomy,

we are going to continue to see acts of violence.

We cannot keep doing this.

We cannot keep going backwards.

And I understand that people have complicated feelings

and that there is a whole spectrum of belief.

And I don't wanna be disrespectful of that.

But we do also have to make decisions

that include the most people,

and that offer the most health services for people,

and offer the most freedom.

And for me, that is making sure

that everybody has access to choice.

I think how I really look after myself

is understanding when I need time right now

to sit in silence.

The world is so big, and it's so beautiful,

and there's so much going on.

And we have so many sides of ourselves

that we give to others as a mother, as a partner,

as a collaborator and friend.

And sometimes we, I, forget to sit in silence

and like, really listen to myself.

And so that really helps center me.