While promoting action movie The 355, Jessica Chastain told James Corden that she prefers not to meet actors that she idolises, because she is always so awkward around them.
The 355 stars Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz and Fan Bingbing as a group of international agents who must come together to thwart a terrorist organisation who want to start World War III.
It was Chastain who proposed the idea of a women-led spy film to director Simon Kinberg, in the vein of the Mission: Impossible and James Bond franchises. She was a producer on the thriller movie.
In real life, however, Chastain is less of a badass than some of her on-screen roles. Speaking on The Late Late Show with James Corden, she said; “I prefer not to meet anyone that I idolise because I’m just awkward.”
“I had a very embarrassing moment with Meryl Streep, to be honest. I just want to save everyone the awkwardness of being like…I don’t know what to do with myself. I really feel so uncomfortable.”
Chastain continued; “I was doing a play in New York. I came off stage and everyone’s there in the lobby, I was with my friend and said [does shocked, frozen face] ‘is that Meryl Streep?!’ And then she turns and looks at me and everything starts to kinda go crazy in my head and she walks towards me like we know each other.”
“She says; ‘Jessica, you were so wonderful in this play.’ And I didn’t even know how to function. So I said ‘Thank you so much, it means so much to me that you came. Bye Bye.’ and I walked away, like an idiot.”
If you enjoy the Oscar-nominated work of Meryl Streep, you might enjoy our guide to the best drama movies.