Just like everyone else in quarantine, Jessica Chastain is binging everything on Netflix.
And her top pick is “Unorthodox”, starring 24-year-old actress Shira Haas. So, over Zoom, to practice proper social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chastain chatted with the star based in Tel Aviv about the series.
“I loved your show,” Chastain gushed to her former “The Zoo Keeper’s Wife” co-star. “We’re here to talk about ‘Unorthodox’, and I am so proud of you.”
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And the series, based on Deborah Feldman’s 2012 bestselling memoir, means a lot to Haas.
“I knew it. I didn’t read it, but I knew about it, because it’s such a big bestseller. And after I knew it was going to happen, I read it and it only took me a few hours, and then I read it again and again,” she explained. “And even though the TV series is so different, some of it is really inspired by it. I took as much as I possibly can from the book.
Haas continued, “I was amazed by it. First of all, it’s very rare to have an opportunity to play such a strong and complicated lead character. To Esty, every time someone asks if I’m similar to her, I’m like: ‘I hope so.’ I think that when I was really young, I was very curious. I always had questions. For Esty, it’s also her curse, asking too much doesn’t fit in for where she belongs.”
And according to Haas, the mostly female crew really made her love the project.
“Our director, Maria Schrader, is also a great actress, so it was really helpful,” she said. “The director was female, the producers, the creator, the camera crew; there were so many women in this crew, which unfortunately is so rare. It’s always nice to have it, but in this specific story, it’s a story about a woman who is trying to find her voice. You can really feel the sensitivity. I really felt protected with them. I felt like they listened to me.”
“Unorthodox” is streaming now on Netflix.
