When Jessica Chastain left her theater training at Juilliard and started landing movie roles, she got a gift. None of the movies came out right away. It took a while before anyone saw her work in Al Pacino’s Wilde Salome (which finally debuts in Venice), or Terrence Malick’s mystical The Tree of Life (which Fox Searchlight premiered in Cannes before a summer opening), or John Madden’s Mossad thriller The Debt, which post-Disney Miramax finally sold to distributor Focus Features (August 31).

The delayed openings meant that Chastain remained a hot actress—and a blank slate. Nobody projected her last movie onto what they thought she could do. So she was able to be a chameleon, playing a dramatic actress, a sweetly luminous idealized 50s mother, and a tough-as-nails assassin. She also earned raves as brassy southern blonde Celia in summer lit hit The Help, and starred opposite Michael Shannon as his wife in the ominously atmospheric drama Take Shelter, which played Sundance and Cannes, and will show on the fest circuit before Sony Pictures Classics opens it September 30. Ralph Fiennes also cast her as his wife in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, where she stood her ground against both him and the magnificent Vanessa Redgrave as her mother-in-law. Weinstein Co. picked up the film after it earned raves in Berlin; it will play Toronto before its December release. And Chastain also landed a spot in another fall fest film, Texas Killing Fields, as well as TWC’s upcoming period gangster ensemble Wettest County. We talk about all these films below.

We now have our first trailer from CC2K via First Showing and it looks like a bold, action-filled effort for a debut film. The cast he assembled is excellent, and makes one of eight 2011 films for Jessica Chastain. Check it:

The Toronto International Film Festival is set to return for its 36th run with an impressive line-up of movies. Two of upcoming Jessica films are set to special presentation:

Special Presentation

Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes)
Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes), a hero of Rome, is a great soldier but despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot and he is banished from Rome. Coriolanus allies with a sworn enemy (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city.

Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)
Curtis lives in Ohio with his wife Samantha and daughter Hannah. When he begins having dreams about an encroaching apocalyptic storm, he channels his anxiety into building a shelter in their backyard. Though his obsessive behaviour provokes intolerance in his community, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing their bond against the highest possible stakes. Stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.

The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival will run between Setpember 8-18, 2011. For more information, visit: tiff.net/thefestival

I added to our gallery some promotional stills, posters, behind the scenes and trailer screencapturs of Jessica’s films, including some Michelle was about to add. There’s more to be added, but it’s a start.

Whoa! Last year it was announced that actor Ralph Fiennes would be making his debut as a director on a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus. At the time, we didn’t actually know how contemporary it would be, but thanks to these first photos from the set in Serbia, it looks like Fiennes has actually set his film around the Iraq war. Action blog 30 Ninjas has the scoop on the photos, which come from the first week’s battle scenes in the Serbian city of Pancevo. Fiennes is also starring in this as the lead along with Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, William Hurt, Eddie Marsan, Jessica Chastain & Vanessa Redgrave.

Obviously comparisons are already being made to The Hurt Locker, especially because that took home the Best Picture Oscar earlier this year, and an Iraq war movie combined with Shakespeare instantly sounds like more Oscar bait. The story in Coriolanus follows Roman military leader Caius Martius, who returns home from a war against the Volscans as a war hero with a new last name, Coriolanus, given for the city which he conquered. However, he is banished from Rome as a traitor. Coriolanus then allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city of Rome. I’m not sure how that will fit into the Iraq war, but I’m already excited.

Ralph Fiennes will begin shooting his directorial debut Coriolanus next week.

The award-winning British actor will also star in the historic epic alongside Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox when filming begins in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 17.

Ralph, who is also producing the big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, will star as revered Roman General Coriolanus, at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens.

Pushed by his controlling mother Volumnia (Vanessa) to enter the Senate, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses, despite needing their votes to secure a Senate seat.

When the public refuse to support him, Coriolanus’s anger prompts a riot which culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard) to take his revenge on the city.

The cast also features John Kani, Paul Jesson, James Nesbitt, Ashraf Barhom, Lubna Azabal and Jessica Chastain – soon to be seen in Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life and John Madden’s The Debt – as Coriolanus’s wife Virgilia.

Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd and Oscar-winning sound mixer Ray Beckett, who both worked on The Hurt Locker, are among the crew.

source: The Press Association