Oscars: Jessica Chastain Touches on Suicide Prevention, LGBTQ and Trans Rights in Best Actress Speech

Jessica Chastain accepted the best actress award for her performance as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye at Sunday’s Oscars, and during her acceptance speech, she touched on suicide prevention, and LGBTQ and transgender rights in wake of the “discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country.”

“Right now, we are coming out of some difficult times, [where we were faced with] love, trauma and isolation, and so many people out there feel hopelessness and they feel alone,” Chastain said. “And suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It’s touched many families, it’s touched mine, and especially members of the LGBTQ community, who oftentimes feel out of place with their peers. We’re faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation that is sweeping our country with the only goal of further dividing us. There’s violence and hate crimes being perpetuated on innocent civilians all over the world.”

Related Stories

General News

The Hollywood Reporter Lands 44 SoCal Journalism Awards Noms, Including Best Print Journalist and Website

Lifestyle

Directors Jack O'Brien and George C. Wolfe to Receive Lifetime Achievement Tony Awards

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill is a legislation that imposes restrictions on classroom instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity, which passed a Republican-controlled state legislature earlier this month and has been defended by Gov. Ron DeSantis. On the same day the bill was passed, Georgia legislators proposed a bill that would prohibit discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation at private schools that receive state funding.

Chastain added: “In times like this, I think of Tammy and I’m inspired by her radical acts of love. We’ve talked about love a lot tonight. And I’m inspired by her compassion. I see it as a guiding principle that leads us forward. And it connects us all in the desire that we want to be accepted for who we are, accepted for who we love, and to live a life without the fear of violence or terror. And for any of you out there who do in fact feel hopeless or alone, I just want you to know that you are unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you.”

In The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Chastain plays Tammy Faye Bakker who, during her career of being a televangelist, author and talk show host, was known for her outrageous persona as well as her advocacy for the LGBTQ community. Notably, she interviewed a gay man living with AIDS in 1985, at a time when evangelism was becoming more and more conservative. The film is directed by Michael Showalter.

Chastain was nominated alongside Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) and Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos). Chastain was previously nominated for The Help (2011) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

Backstage, Chastain told reporters about how she felt about her win and the fact that this particular movie gave her that win.

“It’s very meaningful to me,” she said. “It was 10 years ago that I got the rights to tell this story. And I think that was the first year I was nominated for an Oscar. And I had seven films come out in 2011 and so to be at the award ceremony in 2012 was the beginning of my career. And to be here 10 years later with a film that I bought the rights to, that I kind of willed into existence, is incredibly meaningful. Also, it’s very special to be part of a film that means something to me, and that it rights a misjustice. You know, it really examines a life. It’s so important to give each other our flowers when we’re still alive, and I feel like we missed that opportunity with Tammy Faye, so it’s very special to me. I was texting with her children during the ceremony, I kept texting them. It’s a beautiful, beautiful moment and it means so much to me in terms of my profession, but also in terms of my life and what I’m putting out into the world.”