Gabriele Holtermann/Sipa USA

Jessica Chastain on 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix': 'I didn't even know what my character's name was'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 9/21/21

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac co-star in HBO's new series Scenes From a Marriage, and while their friendship dates back to college and their experiences have been parallel in some ways, their respective footing in the X-Men film franchise is very different.

Chastain visited Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast last week, and when Horowitz brought up the fact that she and Isaac have each portrayed X-Men villains, the two-time Oscar-nominated actress got a little sheepish:

Did @jes_chastain & Oscar Isaac compare X-MEN war stories? Of course! Did Jessica know her character’s name before she saw DARK PHOENIX? NOPE!

Full podcast here: https://t.co/6cYiBXVxJh pic.twitter.com/wYB1mN4rGG
— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) September 16, 2021

"Oscar and I definitely have talked about this," Chastain said, with an elongated "ummm" peppered in. "I mean, the reality is, our situations were very different. My situation, I think, you know, the studio was bought at a certain point. I didn't even know what my character's name was until I saw the film. But yes, it was an interesting thing."

Chastain played Vuk in 2019's X-Men: Dark Phoenix, an objective flop, after Disney and 21st Century Fox announced a $71.3 billion merger.

"Simon Kinberg, who directed it, is an incredible human being, and I've worked with him again," the 44-year-old added, referencing the forthcoming action thriller The 355. "I love him."

Along with Scenes From a Marriage's five-episode arc, Chastain is currently starring as Tammy Faye Bakker—opposite Andrew Garfield as disgraced evangelical pastor Jim Bakker—in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which debuted in theaters last Friday.

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