Jessica Chastain: Stop judging teen celebs, enough body-shaming

Jessica Chastain wasn’t a wild celebrity teen, but the actress thinks she would have been if given the opportunity.

The “Interstellar” star opened up about her career and her roots in the November issue of Glamour, saying she was grateful that the spotlight didn’t shine on her until her 30s, rather than in her teens.

“I would have been a disaster,” the 37-year-old said. “If I was 19 and I had the attention that I’m getting now, I would have just said stupid things. I would have partied more. All these expensive dinners and people giving me Champagne? All these stupid things that we criticize 19-year-olds for doing when they’re famous, I would have done.”

Chastain scored her first film role at age 31 and in six years has appeared in several critically acclaimed films, earning two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe. She also has at least six more films in the pipeline. But Chastain says her late start helped her bypass the scrutiny that comes with being a young Hollywood starlet.

That criticism definitely ruffles the “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Help” star’s seemingly immaculate feathers, especially the body-shaming that happens on social media, something that had once been reserved for celebrities but has expanded to the general population online.

“Oh God, it’s the worst. Enough with the body-shaming! What is going on in this world?” Chastain said.

“I remember being 8 years old. I was a late bloomer. I had very, very short red hair. Very freckly. And thank God there wasn’t the Internet, because I was told every day at school that I was ugly. And that no one wanted to be my friend. The most cruel things. And now these girls or boys are having to deal with that in their school and on a world platform,” she said.

“If I can do anything to help young girls and to be a cheerleader for people who sometimes have low self-esteem, I want to do that.”

Chastain said she coped by enrolling in drama school at Juilliard, “like ‘Glee.’” It changed her life.

“You don’t fit in, and then you find a group of people that understands you. You have to find your people,” she said.

Chastain’s full interview hits newsstands on Oct. 14.

Twitter: @NardineSaad