The 6 Best Jessica Chastain Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Interstellar may seem like a weird choice to place at the bottom of this list, but it’s only because of Jessica Chastain’s more limited screentime. Then again, her character, Murph, does appear in this far more than she does in The Martian (2015). Space movies were really a thing in the 2010’s, weren’t they? Will they see a resurgence after Project Hail Mary (2026)?

Regardless, Interstellar is mainly a vehicle for Matthew McConaughey’s performance and Christopher Nolan’s direction. I’m not disputing that; I’m just saying that there’s a lot of weight on Chastain’s turn as Murph. It’s up to her to bridge the gap with the character so that Interstellar can have that unshakable scene where Cooper (McConaughey) watches the message she sent on her birthday. You have to believe in their relationship, even though they’ve never shared the screen, and Chastain delivers. I just love how she approaches Murph’s ambition, grief, and frustration as a daughter and a NASA scientist in equal measure. 

When I became a Jessica Chastain superfan, Molly’s Game was the movie that I was most excited to watch. I was a bit nervous, knowing that it was based on Molly Bloom’s real-life story. Still, I had high expectations for it, knowing that it was writer and director Aaron Sorkin’s feature directorial debut. His style of writing, as perfected throughout The West Wing (1999), is so specific.

It lends itself to monologues that could bog down the movie with a less-skilled performer at the helm. Chastain’s delivery keeps the voice-overs, for example, interesting and relevant to the movie. She’s also excellent in the dialed-down, slower-paced moments that Molly spends opposite her father, Larry (Kevin Costner). Even with the movie’s quick pacing and snappy dialogue, Chastain makes it easy to lock in and care about the character—for better and worse. 

I’m of the mind that The Eyes of Tammy Faye is somehow too long and never goes deep enough with the movie’s themes. It’s a confounding watch, but not because of Jessica Chastain’s performance as the titular Tammy Faye Bakker. She disappears into the role, as well as the costumes, hair, and makeup of the ‘70s and ‘80s. 

Chastain gives herself to the part so that the televangelist never becomes all imitation or parody. Instead, she finds a middle ground where Tammy Faye is, obviously, a real person who exists, but this character also exists entirely—flaws and all. The immersive quality is aided by Chastain doing her own singing, as she also does in George & Tammy (2022), and her chemistry with Andrew Garfield, who played Jim Bakker is a high point. Essentially, it may have been a long time coming, but it’s no wonder that The Eyes of Tammy Faye is what won Chastain the Oscar for Best Actress.

The Help is the first movie that I ever watched Jessica Chastain in. It’s also the first movie for which she ever got an Oscar nomination, with her and Octavia Spencer being nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Spencer won the award for her performance as Minny Jackson. Her character’s relationship with Chastain’s Celia Foote is one of my favorites in the movie. 

Minny and Celia have a compelling and memorable dynamic from start to finish. There’s a lot of humor in it, but there’s also so much vulnerability shared between their characters. For Chastain, I’ll always remember her performance when Minny finds Celia after another miscarriage, or her heartbreak when she realizes her community is bullying her. Her performance just pulls you into those moments with Celia. 

Jessica Chastain has been no stranger to political thrillers in her career. After Zero Dark Thirty, she starred in The 355 (2025) and Miss Sloane (2016). It’s one of many subgenres that she excels in because she has the presence for it. Zero Dark Thirty just happens to be Chastain at her best in that subgenre—so far. Relatedly, this movie is the one that gave Jessica Chastain her first Best Actress nomination. Strangely, it coincided with a Best Picture nomination and not a Best Director one for the incredibly talented Kathryn Bigelow. But, I digress.

In Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain plays Maya, a CIA analyst, over a ten-year period, and she makes that longevity realistic in Maya’s psychological evolution as well as her physical one. A smart, skilled character, especially a woman in a male-dominated field, can often be pigeonholed into just that or not enough. Chastain’s performance embraces Maya’s totality as she tries to prove herself in an absurdly high-stakes situation. 

It could just be recency bias, or that I didn’t see as much buzz online for this as I wanted, but I love Scenes from a Marriage. It’s only five episodes, but it does so much with it. This show is a gritty, character-driven miniseries that unravels a marriage. It’s a great watch for people, like me, who enjoy intense character studies and love getting into the details of relationships. 

Yes, there are intimate scenes, but I was far more intrigued by the intimacy in the dialogue and sets. Also, the chemistry between Chastain and Oscar Isaac is so honest and palpable that watching Scenes from a Marriage feels intrusive to these characters. Perhaps that’s because Chastain and Isaac played a married couple in A Most Violent Year (2014). Regardless, Scenes from a Marriage has one of Jessica Chastain’s most confident and dynamic performances as of late, and it deserves more love.