Jessica Chastain in command in Ridley Scott's Immersive 3D Spectacle “The Martian”
Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee Jessica
Chastain, who’s also considered as one of the most sought after actresses of
her generation who gave memorable portrayals in groundbreaking movies such as “Interstellar,”
“Zero Dark 30” and “Tree of Life” stars
in Ridley Scott’s space adventure “The Martian” with Matt Damon, Kate Mara,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Peña, Sebasyian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Kirsten Wiig,
Jeff Daniels and Sean Bean.
Based on the
highly successful book by Andy Weir, “The Martian” tells of the gripping story
of botanist Mark Watney, played by Damon in the film. Watney is one of the six-man crew of the
Ares 3, an exploratory fact finding mission to Mars that goes radically wrong
when the astronauts are caught in the middle of a ferociously violent
sandstorm. As the crew scramble to get back on board their ship, Watney is
speared by an antenna - leaving him injured and destroying his space suit’s bio
monitors in the process.
Believing he is dead, Commander Melissa Lewis
(Jessica Chastain) reluctantly aborts the mission to embark on the long journey
back to earth. Watney, a biologist and a
brilliantly innovative mechanical engineer, has survived but, at first, has no
way to contact mission control back on Earth and let them know that he has
survived. NASA eventually realises that he is still alive when satellite images
show evidence of his endeavors and plan a rescue attempt – a race against time
to reach him before his limited resources run out. Having made the decision to leave Watney
behind, believing him to be dead, Lewis feels an enormous measure of regret and
guilt that will later affect her actions and the integrity of her command.
Ridley Scott fleshed out some of the action sequences
in the movie and made Commander Melissa Lewis’ arc even more active, creating
another of the strong female roles that have marked many of his previous
films. As leader of the third Mars
mission, known as Ares III, Commander Lewis heads a crew of six, including
Watney, and is in charge of the surface mission and the spacecraft that carried
them there, the Hermes. The journey from Earth’s orbit to Mars required nine
months, giving Lewis ample time to establish authority with her team, and for
the astronauts to bond.
Jessica Chastain,
who portrays Lewis says, “She is such a well-written character, another in the
legacy of Ridley’s remarkable women characters. Lewis came from the Navy, and
has to lead a team of specialists who are very smart and have very specific
tasks to perform. She is friendly and personable with her crew, but wants to
leave no doubt as to who is in charge.”
“Matt and I have now done two movies together (Interstellar
was the other), and have only worked with each other on set for about a week,”
says Chastain.
Chastain says she was fortunate in being able to
spend some time with astronaut-chemist Tracy Caldwell Dyson, a Mission
Specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavour flight STS-118 in August 2007, and who
was part of the Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station in 2010. Dyson briefed Chastain on both the
technical and human elements of being an astronaut. Chastain says Dyson and other female
astronauts are true role models. “They
inspire women everywhere to pursue careers in science and mathematics,” the
actress notes.
“I think it’s a great part for Jessica and perhaps
unlikely because she’s not thought of as being a physical actress. But I saw a
film she did called The Debt in which she played a spy and I was surprised and
I was convinced she could do anything at that point. And there are strong
performances throughout the film – I mentioned Jeff [Daniels] and there’s Sean
[Bean], Chiwetel [Ejiofor], Kristen [Wiig], the guys on the Ares 3. I’m really
pleased with them all,” says Scott of his uniquely talented “The Martian” cast.
“The Martian” opens September 30 nationwide from 20th
Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Post a Comment