Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain has expressed interest in a sequel to 2011 movie ‘The Help’, to further explore the relationship between her character Celia and Octavia Spencer’s Minny.
The Oscar-nominated movie faced a backlash for its white saviour narrative and oversimplification of harsh truths, with some of the actors expressing regret for their involvement.
As per Deadline, the ‘Dark Phoenix’ and ‘George & Tammy’ star told EW that of all the various characters she has played, one that she thinks about “all the time” and wishes she could play again is her character of Celia Foote from ‘The Help’.
She said: “You know who I think about all the time, and I just wish I could play her (again)? Celia Foote. I just want to do something, Celia and Minny, and see what happened. You know they ended up living together and raising the baby together, they were best friends. How amazing would that film be? I loved her, and I got to be a bit silly.”
“A lot of my characters I feel like I got to experience a lot,” Chastain added. “Celia, it was such a deep dive for me. I really threw on that character, and I didn’t really get to mine that much material because I was a supporting part of that story. That’s a character I wish I could revisit.”
The 2011 film by Tate Taylor was based on the book by Kathryn Stockett about an aspiring young white journalist who writes a book from the point of view of two Black maids and the racism they experience working for white families. In the film, Celia befriends her maid Minny as they both care for each other amid tumultuous marriages.
The film’s stellar cast also included Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek, Leslie Jordan, and Cicely Tyson.
In 2020, Viola Davis all but disowned the movie, saying it was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systematic racism.”
