Although she got her start in theater, Jessica Chastain has never starred on Broadway.
That will all change in a few months, when the actress -- who launched to stardom in the past year with her acclaimed role in The Help -- makes her debut on The Great White Way in a revival of The Heiress.
"I'm nervous," she told THR on the red carpet at the 2012 Tony Awards in New York City. "It's a great role, it's one of the best roles written for women. Moises Kaufman is a wonderful director, and he's such a kind, supportive man so I'm really excited to work for him."
It has "Tony" written all over it, no?
"You can't say that!" she said in mock outrage, then thanking us for the "nice thing" we said.
The Heiress, written by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz, is based on the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. Kaufman, whose recent Broadway credits include directing Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and Jane Fonda in 33 Variations, will helm the production.
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This will be the fifth Broadway production of the play, which premiered in 1947. The most recent of them, in 1995, won Tony Awards for revival of a play, lead actress Cherry Jones, featured actress Frances Sternhagen and director Gerald Gutierrez. William Wyler’s 1949 screen version won an Oscar for Olivia de Havilland.
Chastain will play Catherine Sloper, one of the most lauded, psychologically complex female stage roles. The plain, socially awkward young woman’s chance at love and happiness is destroyed by the cold, distant behavior of her wealthy father (David Strathairn).
Chastain, who's wrapped up filming Kathryn Bigelow action thriller Thirty Dark Zero, said she starts rehearsals in September.
"I'm a Broadway fan," she said. "Some might say that I was a theater nerd in high school. I would always watch the Tonys and record them and watch them throughout the year, over and over again."
"I started out in theater, I went to Juilliard. Theater is my home. I somehow started making TV shows and film, but now I'm excited to come back home," added Chastain, a presenter at Sunday's ceremony.
