I was almost paralyzed for an hour leading up to the Oscar best
actress announcement. (This must be my first Oscar ceremony
viewing in a decade, and I have forgotten how much fluff you
have to sit through.) I cannot even imaging how Jessica Chastain
felt as she sat near the front row, all cameras on her, waiting
for her moment. Her role in _The Eyes of Tammy Faye_ was not
even projected to be nominated. When she won the SAG award
you can see how stunned she was. Suddenly she became
the front-runner, which is not a good place to be in this closest
of Oscar races.

It is not even my favorite performance of hers I saw last year;
that would be "Scenes from a Marriage," in which she takes
over Liv Ullmann's role. (Liv Ullmann, who also directed her
in _Miss Julie_, happened to be sitting high above her at
the ceremony! Talk about the passing of the guards.) But
in an exceptionally graceful, passionate, and succinctly
crafted speech, Chastain (producer of _Tammy Faye_ as
well as lead actress) wove her entire life into the genesis of
this film. She made a point about suicide being the leading
cause of death in the COVID-ravaged US and subtly reminded
us of how she was touched by suicide too (I think it was her
sister). That shed fresh insight into why she was inspired
by Tammy Faye's extraordinary compassion and willingness
to be different. ("You are unconditionally loved" isn't a
glib slogan she made up for the occasion; anyone who has
visited her social media site will know that it is Jessica's
central tenet, the core of her being.) She ended by alluding
to all the violence and hatred in our world. What a stunning,
brilliant, compassionate, intellectually unassailable acceptance
speech. I doubt there has ever been a more worthy winner.

Most of us already know she is the greatest actress of our
generation. Now Jessica Chastain is a certified legend of
our time.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)