Jessica Chastain Will Be The Heiress on Broadway

Producers of the upcoming Broadway play “The Heiress” have announced that Jessica Chastain will portray the lead role of Catherine Sloper.

This is the role that won Olivia de Havilland a Best Actress Oscar in the 1949 film of the same name — and most deservedly so. (review). “The Heiress” is based upon an 1881 book by Henry James called “Washington Square.” It is the story of a physician’s daughter, a plain Jane type, who is courted by a handsome charmer, Morris Townsend. Her father strongly disapproves, believing Morris to be a sleazy fortune-hunter.

The film was also made into a film in 1997 under the title of the book and starred Jennifer Jason Lee as Catherine.

The play has had two runs on Broadway. In 1995, Cherry Jones was Catherine and in 1947, the role went to Wendy Hiller (not yet a Dame).

In addition to her stellar film credits, Chastain played Salome in a Los Angeles production by the same name in 2006 with none other than Al Pacino. She has also performed in stage productions of ”Othello” and “Rodney’s Wife.”

In a statement, producer Paula Wagner said that she consider Chastain “an actress with that rare ability to transition effortlessly between the stage and screen. The play will be directed by Moisés Kaufman who said Mrs. Chastain possesses a “chameleon-like prowess and enormous emotional intelligence; I think she’s one of the best actresses of her generation. I’m thrilled to be working with her on ‘The Heiress.’”

Wow! They’re going to have to de-glam the ravishing Ms. Chastain quite a bit, and they’ll also need an astonishingly handsome actor to play Morris Townsend!

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Tags: jennifer, jessica, olivia, wendy