YAM Loves: 2011’s Breakout Stars
While the year has seen plenty of brilliant new women — Elizabeth Olsen, Felicity Jones, Brit Marling and Rooney Mara are amongst the most notable — one woman stands above the rest, and that woman is Jessica Chastain.
Even though she had already made appearances in films before (see: Jolene & Stolen), no one had really seen much of her until this year. Starting off with a bang, Chastain performed ever so gracefully in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. Most people would find a performance like that alone to be just enough for one year, but that wasn’t the end for her!
When it comes to her 2011 film credits, she can proudly say that she has been featured in six feature films. Her performances in Take Shelter and The Help have been critically acclaimed, her work in The Debt was surprisingly overlooked, and even though she was barely in it, Chastain still shines in the less than pleasant film Texas Killing Fields.
Plus, even if she gets stuck in a bad movie, she’s still really pretty to look at. Hell, even with a giant scar on her face throughout The Debt, I never took my eyes off of her when she was on screen.
As for things that we should all be looking forward to with Jessica Chastain, many people still haven’t had a chance to see the two other films that were slated for 2011: Coriolanus and Wilde Salome. When it comes to 2012, we’re most excited to see her in one of Malick’s upcoming projects (rumored to be named The Burial), in John Hillcoat’s crime drama Wettest Country, and in Andres Muschietti’s horror film Mamá.
I bet you can’t find too many people who can build up a filmography as impressive as hers so quickly! As Mindy Kaling tweeted earlier this year, “It’s the era of Jessica Chastain and we’re just living in it.”
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So who’s the man of the year? Find out on the next page!
Fassy was ROBBED! He wins over Hiddleton with Shame and A Dangerous Method.
@Julili, I don’t consider 2011 Fassy’s breakout year though. Just like Jessica and Tom are both showing up in a billion supporting roles, that’s how Fassy showed up in 2009. Hunger was great, but nonexistent before the Criterion Collection picked it up. Fish Tank and Inglourious pushed him out into the world and it’s thanks to 2009 that he’s now scoring all of these fantastic roles.
That’s pretty much how I see the lives of Hiddleston and Chastain going in the next few years and I’m pretty excited because people will hopefully be just as in love with them soon as they are with Fassy.
Oh Hiddles. I’m sad we couldn’t expend more of Fassy, but Hiddles! It was also love at first sight for me. And yes, he totally stole THOR :P
And the thing is, not only is he a good actor, he’s also a nice guy all around… and does great impressions XD
@Mirella, his Owen Wilson was spot on.
@Mirella, THOSE EYES AND THAT SMILE AND THAT PERFECTION
@Juan Barquin, I think we could lost ourselves in waxing poetic on Hiddles XD
I really agree on Jessica Chastain she will be a force to reckon with for a while. In Sweden I’d say Bill Skarsgård is the obvious choice. He has been in more or less every feature for a while now.
I think I might need to re-watch Thor again. For some reason, Tom Hiddleston didn’t stood out to me that much other than Loki’s final minutes in the film. But he was actually great in Midnight in Paris.
@Rodrigo, Yea, after watching Thor a second time. I was largely unimpressed by his turn. Hopefully, he will have a lot more to chew on in War Horse…
@Castor, I would say that Thor served as a breakout for Hemsworth; he looked like a star at a first impression IMO.
It really was the year of Jessica Chastain! She did say recently however that she doubts she will in the final cut of Terrence Malick untitled project (which has been officially said not to be named The Burial lol)