Jessica Chastain Says She Wants a Sequel to THE HELP Centered Around Celia and Minny

Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Chastain has been in a ton of great movies and series, including Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life, Molly’s Game, Scenes From a Marriage, George and Tammy, The Good Nurse, and her Oscar-winning role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. But of all the various parts she has brought to life, the one she would most like to revisit is Celia Foote from The Help. She played a sweet woman who was gossiped about by the women in town as she struggled with miscarriages and trying to succeed as a wife and aspiring mother in the 1960s Deep South. Her only friend in the film was her maid, Minny Jackson, played by Octavia Spencer, who won her Oscar for this role.

In a recent interview with EW, Chastain talked about her wish to return to the role along with Spencer, saying:

"You know who I think about all the time, and I just wish I could play her [again]? Celia Foote. I just want to do something, Celia and Minny, and see what happened. You know they ended up living together and raising the baby together, they were best friends," Chastain explains. "How amazing would that film be? I loved her, and I got to be a bit silly."

Though both characters navigated grim circumstances, Chastain says that she felt "so happy" playing Celia among the film's stellar cast, which also included Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek, Leslie Jordan, and Cicely Tyson.

Chastain continued:

"A lot of my characters I feel like I got to experience a lot. Celia, it was such a deep dive for me. I really threw on that character and I didn't really get to mine that much material, because I was a supporting part of that story. That's a character I wish I could revisit."

In addition to giving her a role in a hit that eventually grossed $169 million at the domestic box office, Chastain's performance as Celia led to her first-ever Oscar nomination. She'd later be nominated again the following year for her leading role in Zero Dark Thirty before winning Best Actress nearly a decade later for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

She was fantastic in that role, and I’d love to see her play it again. It probably won’t happen, but we can dream.