Jessica Chastain Explains Why Robin Williams Is to Thank for Her Acting Career
The Oscar-winning actress detailed the heartwarming story during an appearance on 'The View.'
We know Jessica Chastain as a renowned, Oscar-winning actress, but her road to Hollywood wouldn’t have been the same without the help of one acting legend: the late Robin Williams.
Chastain, 46, credits Williams with helping her pursue a career in acting, as the late comedic icon is the reason she was able to study acting at Juilliard.
The actress opened up about the heartwarming story while chatting with The View‘s Whoopi Goldberg to promote her starring role in the film MEMORY during the Friday, Dec. 15 episode of the daytime talk show.
Goldberg, 68, pointed out that Chastain was raised by a single mother who “struggled financially,” and that the future actress was the first in her family to go to college, an experience made possible by a scholarship in Williams’ name.
“I received the Robin Williams scholarship,” Chastain revealed, while an echo of “awws” and applause spread across the audience.
“It was a beautiful thing because every two years it would be given to a student and it paid for all of my schooling, it paid for my housing, it paid for me to be able to go home for Christmas and see my family,” Chastain explained, noting that the scholarship also covered her school books and food.
“It was so generous,” she said.
Chastain said she wrote the famed Good Will Hunting star a letter every year to say “thank you,” but sadly, she was never able to thank him in person. As we know, the beloved Oscar-winner and comedian passed away at the age of 63 in August 2014.
During Friday’s The View episode, Chastain went on to explain that she did see Williams in person once while at a restaurant, but she didn’t approach him out of courtesy and respect for his privacy.
While appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show back in 2022, Chastain said she “always regret[s]” that she wasn’t able to tell him thank you in person.
But her successful career in acting might be thanks enough, as Williams’ scholarship clearly went to good use on Chastain, who has since gone on to win an Oscar for Best Actress following her work in 2022’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye, as well as score two other Academy Award nominations for her lead role in 2013’s Zero Dark Thirty and supporting role in 2012’s The Help.
