S peaking to Jessica Chastain about the future of movies, the It Chapter Two star says Hollywood must employ more diverse voices. “Audiences have really demanded inclusivity in their storytelling,” she says. “I truly believe that if we keep seeding this inclusivity and flowering it into learning about the stories of others, not only does the industry change, but society in some way becomes more tolerant.” What is something that’s changed recently in the movie industry that you think will only continue to develop over the next 10 years? One big difference is the freedom women have to speak about the industry. In the beginning, I did feel a little bit of nervousness about criticising an industry that I was very lucky to be involved in. After working my whole life to try to create a career, perhaps I was damaging it. I even had male directors say to me: “You’re talking too much about this woman stuff.”From extras.But I’ve noticed that things are different for women coming into this industry. I just did a press tour [for Dark Phoenix ] with Sophie Turner, and the freedom that she has to express herself and talk about injustices that she may see, it just comes naturally to her without a second thought. That means women now feel they can speak out without having their careers harmed. Do you think that empowerment will affect which films are made over the next decade? It will definitely affect them, but I don’t want to give too much credit to the studio system. I actually give all the credit to the audience, because for years it’s been a known fact that movies with female ensembles had a greater chance of making their money back than male ensembles. The studio system wasn’t listening, and they kept saying that films about women aren’t marketable. You’re producing one of those female-ensemble films, the action thriller 355, where you’ll star alongside Lupita Nyong’o and Marion Cotillard. How did that come about?