Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who plays a nurse in her latest film, said she feels nurses have been “forgotten about” following the pandemic.
The American actress, 45, stars in The Good Nurse, which follows the true story of nurse Amy Loughren, who becomes suspicious that her colleague, played by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne, is responsible for a series of patient deaths.
The crime drama, directed by Tobias Lindholm, tells the story of serial killer Charlie Cullen and is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Charles Graeber.
At the film’s UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Chastain told the PA news agency it was a “huge responsibility” portraying a nurse.
“It’s a lot of work because you can’t just show up and pretend to be a nurse, and especially in Tobias’ film, which he really wanted it to feel like it’s happening in the moment, like you know what you’re doing,” she said.
“We were surrounded by health care workers, all the extras on set actually did that for their professions.
“I think during the pandemic, we would all go outside and clap at seven, I don’t know what time it was here but in New York it was seven, to celebrate them and acknowledge them.
“And now the pandemic is over and I feel like we’ve forgotten about them. They’re still doing the work. They’re still underpaid and overworked and understaffed and underappreciated.
“And it’s important for me to acknowledge them and thank them because they’re working really hard to save the lives of our loved ones and we need to acknowledge that.”
Chastain added that she became involved because she found the message of the film “really exciting”.
“Yes it’s a true crime but it’s not one that uses violence to end violence. It uses compassion, humanity and love to end the cycle of violence.
“Amy reminds Charlie that he’s a human being and that she loves him, he’s not a monster that everyone’s treating him and that’s what is able to reach through,” she said.
Speaking about the nursing lessons they had, 40-year-old Redmayne explained that he was a “very bad nurse”.
“Never come to me in a crisis. It transpires I’m useless. Massive appreciation for nurses,” he told PA.
“The thing that I took away was how much of a polymath you have to be to be a nurse.
“You have to be incredibly bright, you have to understand the science, the rigorous maths, but also you have to have the physical strength, that’s one of the things that surprised me and Jess.
“Mixed with the emotional intelligence to be the conduit or the empathetic kind of go-between, between doctors and families that are at their most vulnerable.
“So that skill set, to have all of those things is pretty excellent.”
Amy Loughren, whom Chastain plays in the film, explained how she originally did not want the film to be made.
She told PA: “Part of the reason I didn’t want to be involved in the film was because it’s such a gruesome subject matter and people these days are just so mesmerised by serial killers and I don’t know why and I just didn’t want that.
“When I realised that it wasn’t going to be that type of film I was excited.
“Tobias assured me that this wasn’t going to sensationalise that, that this was going to be how we can still have hope after we’ve done really really hard things.
“And also it was important to shed light on the fact that these victims need a voice and they deserve a voice and the families deserve a voice and that’s what I’m here for.”
On hearing Chastain would play her, she added: “I had to sit down, like it knocked the wind out of me. I really genuinely thought it was a joke. There’s no way Jessica Chastain is going to play me, because she was my pick, and I was told ‘No way’.
“We talked a lot about who I used to be, not who I am, and I think that she channels that beautifully. She’s a better Amy than I ever could have been.”
The Good Nurse will be released on Netflix in October.
