Jessica Chastain Reveals How She Created Her Viral ‘Other Mommy’ Face

• Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass for Other Mommy.
• Chastain and Duplass discuss the scariest scenes and how Chastain transforms into Other Mommy.
• Chastain also teases what's next for her, and Duplass discusses his role in I Play Rocky.

There’s a psychology behind Jessica Chastain’s physical horror in Universal Pictures’ Other Mommy. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve only gotten a taste of what’s to come; if you haven’t, you’re in for a terrifying treat. From Rob Savage, the director of 2020’s near-perfect pandemic horror Host, the Oscar-winning actress stars as the stuff of nightmares.

In the movie, 8-year-old Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) is struggling with her mom (Chastain) and dad’s (Jay Duplass) marital issues when she’s confronted by a sinister entity that emerges from her closet. Because this presence manifests as an eerie doppelgänger of her mom, Bela dubs it “Other Mommy.” Confusion and danger mount as this malevolent mommy becomes an increasing threat to their family.

In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Chastain and Duplass reveal the scenes they’re most excited for audiences to experience, Chastain breaks down the creation of her “Other Mommy” persona, and Duplass talks about why he sought out a role in Peter Farrelly’s acclaimed drama I Play Rocky. Check out the full conversation in the video above, with a transcript provided below.

Jessica Chastain Had Just Days to Decide to Make 'Other Mommy'

Chastain and Jay Duplass also reveal which scene they're most excited for audiences to see.

Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: Where do you both like to sit in a movie theater?

JESSICA CHASTAIN: Middle. I want the middle-middle, definitely. I don't want to be on the side. I want a large movie theater with a lot of people in it, and middle.

JAY DUPLASS: Same. I'm dead-same, but I sit in the back because my kids want to sit in the back, so I don't get to sit in the middle anymore.

CHASTAIN: Really?

DUPLASS: Yeah, they like back, top, middle.

CHASTAIN: So they can be on their phones?

DUPLASS: No, they just like to be in control. As if they’re keeping eyes…

CHASTAIN: Maybe you should say, “I want to sit in the back,” and see what they say.

DUPLASS: Yeah. They'll be like, “Middle.” They’ll go opposite.

Speaking of movie theaters, which scene are you especially excited for in Other Mommy to watch with a packed theater?

CHASTAIN: The bathtub scene, I think.

DUPLASS: Yeah, the bathtub scene is a knockout. This is such a cool movie in that it really subverts a lot of horror conventions, and I think, honestly, the first scare under the table is just going to… I don't want to spoil anything, but it comes early, and it's so powerful. I just can't wait to see it.

CHASTAIN: Also, your reaction to it’s pretty great. You going through the glass is great.

Image via Universal Pictures

When you are reading a script like this, and you're being offered a role, and you see what you're being asked to do, what are the typical questions you're asking a director or producer about the film and the way they're going to do something before you're willing to sign on?

DUPLASS: That's an insider question, and that's a very good question.

CHASTAIN: This one, it was complicated because they said it to me on a Friday, and I had to make the decision by Monday morning, because if I did it, they had to move production up to fit into this slot. And so I read the script, and then I got on the phone with Rob [Savage], who I found to be so intelligent, really knows film history, has such a good eye. I was very excited talking to him. There were some things with the character at the end of the movie I wanted to kind of add in there. He was open to that, like some things that my character says.

And then, on the just technical side, it's like, “I know this is from a child's point of view. Talk to me about what the shooting schedule is going to be like. Am I going to be in my trailer the whole time? With shooting, how many nights are we shooting? I think about those kind of things now because I know if I'm shooting a whole movie and it's all night shoots, that's going to be rough on me. But those are just the technical stuff.

I was really, really excited to sign on because I believed in Rob, and he didn't prove me wrong. He's made a great film.

I think a lot of people don't realize what really goes on behind the scenes. I know you're probably talking about, like, you had a gap in your schedule in January to February, “Could you fit it in?” Something along those lines.

CHASTAIN: Well, I was actually going to school. I was going to school, and so it was the thing of, like, school started on this date, so I have to be done by this date.

I didn't mean to ask this, and I don't do personal, but what were you going to school for?

CHASTAIN: I was getting — I'm still, I'm on leave — my master's in public administration.

Wow, that's amazing.

Jessica Chastain on Creating the Terrifying 'Other Mommy' Face

Duplass calls Chastain "scary as fuck."

Image via Universal Pictures

Was there ever a take in the movie where what Jessica did freaked you out, like you got scared watching?

DUPLASS: Yeah. I didn't get scared as much as I thought I was going to get scared in the making of this movie, but this person is scary as fuck when she turns it on. Can I say that?

100%.

DUPLASS: And we've talked about it a bit. It's the face. It's the face that they thought they might do something to digitally or with makeup or whatever, and when Jessica did it herself, they realized they didn't need to do anything to it, that it was the scariest one. When I first saw that face, it was very unsettling. You're good at what you do. I don’t know if you know that.

CHASTAIN: [Laughs] Thank you. I like being creepy. It's fun being creepy.

When you're preparing to do a face like that, what are you actually doing? Are you looking at what, like, Jim Carrey does with his face? How are you preparing to transform yourself physically?

CHASTAIN: The funny thing is, it doesn't start external. It all starts from what is the character, what creates it. So talking to Rob, it was like, okay, if she's holding on to this skin, this being, that's probably after a while of holding it, it’s tough. You start to get the tension of trying to maintain a thing. And then she's also trying to be appealing to a child, so how does she be appealing? But maybe she's in pain because it takes a lot of energy to hold this thing.

And I found that to be really interesting of having a friendly expression, maybe not blink, because there's something inhuman about that, but then the tier of not understanding how to be emotional with a child. And I like to have that tension because you don't know when it's going to be released. So I found all of those things working with Rob. But it's not based just on, like, staring at a mirror and being like, “What's the scariest face I can make?” It was really kind of based on what is she feeling?

Jay Duplass on Why He Had to Join 'I Play Rocky'

"I had a hell of a time doing it."

Image via TIFF

Last question for both of you. My favorite film at TIFF was I Play Rocky.

CHASTAIN: Dude, everyone's talking about this!

DUPLASS: It’s a good movie.

CHASTAIN: I cannot wait to see it.

He's also fantastic in it.

DUPLASS: Thanks.

CHASTAIN: He’s a great actor.

DUPLASS: Thank you so much.

I agree. Real quick, can you just tell people what it's about and who you play, and I'll say again how fantastic it is. And Jessica, I'm curious, what are you filming later this year-slash-next year? What does your schedule look like?

CHASTAIN: On Monday I start filming a movie called My Darling California, made by Elijah Bynum, who made Magazine Dreams. So it's his next one. But I want to hear about…

DUPLASS: I Play Rocky. It's a movie about the making of the original Rocky film in 1976. It's an incredible story of [Sylvester] Stallone getting this movie made. I play the director of that film, John Avildsen. Rocky is my favorite movie of all time. I hit up Peter Farrelly, and I said, “I’ve got to play this guy.”

So, I have my own spin-off. It's called I Play Avildsen. No one's going to watch it, but I had a hell of a time doing it.

I got to go, but I spoke to Stallone yesterday. I may have been the first one to talk with him about the reaction to the movie.

DUPLASS: Yeah, I'm curious how he's feeling about it.

He was super enthusiastic, and I know he had seen it, so it was cool just telling him about the TIFF premiere and everyone freaking out in the theater.

DUPLASS: It was. We played in a 1,700-person theater. People lost their minds. And Toronto's calm normally, so it was cool. It was cool. It was one of those screenings.

CHASTAIN: Oh my God. Jay, I’m so proud of you!

DUPLASS: I know! Thanks, buddy. It's cool. There's a really cool movie in the world right now that you’ll get to see.

Other Mommy is now playing in theaters.

Cast

• 

  Ursula / Other Mommy

• 

  Arabella Olivia Clark

  Bela

• Hayley Spelman

  Other Mommy

• Carrie Dimaculangan

  Callie