Jessica Chastain is a busy, busy woman. Appearing from seemingly out of nowhere, she had a bumper 2011, starring in The Help, The Debt, Tree of Life and Take Shelter. And while four big releases in a year will already be too much for some, she was also working on her own project with Joel Edgerton, as well as about to kick off work on Katherine Bigelow’s hunt for Osama Bin Laden film.
So basically she’s like Samuel L Jackson. Only hot.
All this work has meant that she has had to pass up on a few roles though. One such role was opposite Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man 3. Luckily the stars appear to have re-aligned, with some scheduling adjustments resulting in her now being available again for the superhero sequel.
Deadline only describes the role as “a sexy scientist every bit as smart as Tony Stark” but given the rumblings in the past about how director/screenwriter Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 script will be will be drawing heavily from Warren Ellis’ “Extremis” comic book storyline, this leads to me believe that she will probably be taking on the role of Maya Hansen.
Hansen was the creator of the revolutionary nanotechnology, and as hinted at in the original comic, had a bit of a romantic past with Mr Stark. Then again, if you happen to have lady bits in all the expected places (and maybe even if you don’t), chances are that you’ve had a romantic past with the billionaire playboy. If they do play this angle in the movie, it would certainly make for some interesting moments with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts, Stark’s right-hand (wo)man and begrudgingly admitted real love.
If Chastain does end up taking the role (which certainly seems very likely) then she would have beaten out Gemma Arterton, Diane Kruger and Isla Fisher, which just goes to show that Marvel wasn’t kidding around with the “sexy” bit.
With Guy Pearce already confirmed and talks that Sir Ben Kingsley may be playing the villain, the addition of Chastain will certainly add even more thespian gravitas to Black’s production.
Last Updated: April 24, 2012
