Acting Shapeshifter! Jessica Chastain’s Weight Loss Transformation for Roles Over the Years in Photos

2011

“Soy helps you become curvy because it has estrogen in it,” Jessica said about how she put on weight to play Celia in The Help. “So, what I would do — and this is really gross — is buy cartons of soy ice cream, microwave it and drink it. It was disgusting, [but] wait [until] you see my boobs in the movie,” she added.

2013

Jessica donned a heavily embellished silver Chanel minidress for An Evening Honoring Karl Lagerfeld in New York City. “The reality is that our job is to put every cell in our body into what we’re playing and make huge sacrifices. It costs you something, emotionally and physically,” she told Collider in 2023 about her commitment to acting

2015

The Zero Dark Thirty star wore a green satin dress to the National Board Of Review Gala.

2017

For the London premiere of her movie Molly’s Game, Jessica donned a nude tulle dress with a floral overlay.

2019

Jessica flaunted a noticeably slimmer figure in a body-con black dress with a belted waist at a fan event for X-Men: Dark Phoenix. She has professed her love of practicing yoga over the years as her favorite form of fitness.

2021

The Forgiven star wowed in a braless blue top and figure-hugging skirt at the 16th annual Rome Film Fest.

That year, Jessica revealed how spending more than seven hours in the makeup chair to transform into televangelist Tammy Faye Baker damaged her skin.

“I think for sure I’ve done some permanent damage to my skin on this. Listen, I eat very pure, and I take very good care of my skin and I stay out of the sun and all that stuff. But it’s heavy. And when you’re wearing it all day every day — the weight of it on your body, it stretches your skin out. I finally took it off and I was like, ‘I look 50 years old!’” she told the Los Angeles Times. “No, I’m kidding. But it’s fine. It’s for my art,” she added.

2022

The hours in the makeup chair and skin damage paid off! Jessica won the Best Actress Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. She donned a va-va-voom strapless green fitted Gucci gown for the Vanity Fair Oscar party to celebrate with her statuette in hand.

2023

Jessica looked slimmer than ever in belted teal trousers and a matching turtleneck while out and about in New York City. The actress discussed how she shed weight to look like country singer Tammy Wynette did in her later years as she battled health problems in the Showtime limited series George & Tammy.

“I don’t really like to look at scales, but I stopped eating. I was drinking juices and I kept doing it until I looked sick,” she told Vanity Fair the year prior.

2024

Fans took notice of The Martian star’s trim body at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, where she dazzled in a neon green Gucci gown with a fringe skirt.

“Working out gives me confidence. It’s the sense of being proud of myself,” she told Shape in 2021. “The starting point of exercise is always difficult for me — finding the time and quiet space and feeling that I’ve got a million other things I need to do. But once I finish, I immediately feel like a superhero.”