Jessica Chastain has won the Best Actress Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards. Chastain won for her new drama movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which was directed by Michael Showalter and based on the 2000 documentary of the same name. In our review, we described the film as a thoroughly entertaining biopic that will never leave you bored.
Jessica Chastain managed to see off competition from her fellow nominees Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), and Kristen Stewart (Spencer). In her acceptance speech, Chastain paid tribute to her make-up team (who deserve some credit for Chastain’s incredible transformation) and her co-star Andrew Garfield for all of his support.
Chastain also used the opportunity to express support for the LGBTQ community. “We’re faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country with the only goal of further dividing us,” Chastain said. “There’s violence and hate crimes being perpetrated on innocent civilians all over the world…And for any of you out there who do, in fact feel hopeless or alone, I just want you to know that you are unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you.”
The 2022 Oscars ceremony has been a controversial one. In an attempt to shorten the award’s runtime, the decision was made to pre-record the presentation and acceptance of eight awards related to ‘below the line’ achievements.
As a result, several protests have been organised, with some members of the award’s body promising to hold their awards upside down, wearing their badges upside down, and several filmmakers have signed a letter sent to the Academy criticising the decision.
Steven Spielberg has also released a statement calling out the Academy’s shoddy treatment of these eight awards, “I feel very strongly that this is perhaps the most collaborative medium in the world,” he wrote. “All of us make movies together… I feel that at the Academy Awards, there is no above the line, there is no below the line.”
Love film? Check out our list of the best drama movies ever made.