Jessica Chastain Wants To Team Up w/ Octavia Spencer For ‘The Help’ Sequel Focused On Their Characters Being ‘Best Friends,’ Despite Controversy Surrounding Original Film’s Plot

August 15, 2023 by Kay Johnson in Film with 0 Comments

Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer

Jessica Chastain Wants To Team Up w/ Octavia Spencer For ‘The Help’ Sequel Focused On Their Characters Being ‘Best Friends,’ Despite Controversy Surrounding Original Film’s Plot

“The Help” actress Jessica Chastain is manifesting a sequel to the award-winning film.

During a recent interview, the Oscar winner expressed her interest in starring in a second movie based on the lives of her and Octavia Spencer’s characters Celia and Minny.

Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain

In case you’re unfamiliar with the movie, “The Help” tells the story of a white journalist, played by Emma Stone, writing stories about the extreme racism going on in Mississippi during the 1960s from the viewpoint of Black maids. The film, which also stars actress Viola Davis, initially received critical acclaim. However, the movie was eventually slammed for its reported “white savior” narrative. Despite the controversy surrounding the project, it seems that Chastain is ready to reprise her role.

While speaking about tapping back into her character Celia, who gleefully embraced her Black maid Minny (played by Spencer) – causing her to be even more of an outcast in a community of racists – the actress reportedly stated:

“You know who I think about all the time, and I just wish I could play her [again]? Celia Foote. I just want to do something, Celia and Minny, and see what happened. You know they ended up living together and raising the baby together, they were best friends,”

Adding:

“How amazing would that film be? I loved her, and I got to be a bit silly.”

The 46-year-old then shared her love for the character and explained how her ability to deliver a deeper take on the role was limited due to it being a supporting part. She said:

“A lot of my characters I feel like I got to experience a lot. Celia, it was such a deep dive for me. I really threw on that character and I didn’t really get to mine that much material, because I was a supporting part of that story…That’s a character I wish I could revisit.”

Jessica Chastain

While Chastain may be eager for a second movie, the same might not be said for her co-stars.

As we covered in 2020, Viola Davis has expressed some regret over starring in the project. At the time, the 58-year-old was doing a cover interview for Vanity Fair amid the racist killing of George Floyd and nationwide protests, which sparked a wave of new interest in the 2011 release. Davis stated that while the movie, which earned her an Oscar nomination, was certainly entertaining, she felt that she “betrayed” herself and her people because the film “wasn’t ready to tell the whole truth.”

She continued:

“Not a lot of narratives are also invested in our humanity…[Hollywood is more] invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but…it’s catering to the white audience. The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.”